Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

Shen Yi pondered for a moment and still decided to retract his gaze.

Body refining techniques were certainly important.

But before deducing them, he could first learn a few more martial arts of the same type to accumulate relevant experience.

Martial arts of this rank should not be scarce within the Demon-suppression Bureau; with some meritorious achievements, he could exchange for them. Learning several more before deducing them would save a lot of time.

Just like the Sun Melting Furnace, which is divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers based on the number of acupoints it communicates with.

Other martial arts should also have similar classifications.

Intercepting Veins and Capturing Dragons, Four Harmonies True Gang—martial arts personally passed down by generals—is enough for people like Lin Baiwei, who catch demons in Qingzhou, to accumulate a great reputation. Discover more stories at empire

Even among the Jade Liquid Realm Martial Arts, it is the deepest and highest.

There probably aren't any of higher rank in the same realm.

Even if there were, they wouldn't be accessible with his current status.

The reason Shen Yi refused Li Mujin's kindness was partly because he feared trouble and did not want to entrust his life and property to a stranger's family.

She sounds nice now.

Once he truly joined them, they might share some resources and martial arts with him, but when the master family was in trouble, he would also have to fight to the death to protect them.

The Li family were not the tyrants of Baiyun County, and they surely had means of control over the protectors and retainers under their command.

If he had to risk his life for his future, Shen Yi preferred the Demon-suppression Bureau.

As it stands, the only way to advance his status within the Demon-suppression Bureau was to slay demons and accumulate merit.

There weren't so many complications, which suited him just fine.

As long as he was willing to fight and earn enough merit, he could rightfully claim anything through his own strength, which made it all the more satisfying to use.

As for the second reason.

The things Shen Yi wanted, the Li family might not be able to give or might not be willing to.

Even the Four Harmonies True Gang became a demonic martial art with even more terrifying lethality in his hands, and the Demon-subduing Blade Technique, which started as a common martial skill, evolved into Jade Liquid martial arts, no weaker than any of the top five ultimate techniques.

Combining the strengths of various families with the innate talents of demons to deduce even deeper demonic martial arts is what Shen Yi truly desired.

And when it comes to the strengths of various families, who could compare with the Demon-suppression Bureau, this "good person"?

The once number one sect in Qingzhou, the Pine Crane Sect, colluded with demons and was slaughtered to the last; their unique treasure, the I Ching Spinning Meridian Pill, was transformed into the Open Pulse Elixir.

When Yushan Prefecture was purged by the General's disciples, the martial arts of the three big sects were naturally renamed and merged into the Demon-suppression Bureau.

In other words.

Unless it's about the Condensation Elixir Realm, other common martial arts have little benefit to Shen Yi.

Condensation Elixir Method, even if the Li family has it, would they be willing to give it... and what price would he have to pay to exchange for it?

What he needed to do now was to honestly work at the Demon-suppression Bureau and not let a demon take his head before he had accumulated enough merit to exchange for the Condensation Elixir Method.

If he had enough spare demon lifespan, he could also consider exchanging some precious crystals to aid in deducing.

[Remaining Demon Lifespan: Eight Hundred and Ninety-One Years]

It was just lacking the lifespan of a "yellow-skin".

"Has Butcher Zhang not had his fill of warmth yet?"

Shen Yi remembered that when he arrived in Qingzhou, the other had jumped off the carriage and gone to find his old flame. Almost half a month had passed, and there was still no news from him.

He wasn't afraid the head of Vajra Gate would catch him, drag him in front of a Buddha statue, take down the painting of court ladies, and hang him up instead.

If he were around, he could speak on Shen Yi's behalf about various body-refining methods.

Shen Yi shook his head and stepped outside.

In the dim moonlight, he stood in the courtyard and started with the most basic Cloud-Dispersing Long Fist to familiarize himself with his body, which was vastly different from before.

With the foundation of Jade Liquid Perfection, it might take only two or three days to fully master the Power of the Jiao Demon.

Until the sun was three poles high.

He slowly finished his practice but was still full of energy.

Stepping into Mortal Fetal Perfection, his craving for ordinary delicacies diminished; breaking through to Jade Liquid Perfection, he even felt less need for sleep.

Shen Yi felt he was beginning to control his strength and so returned to his room to fetch his old clothes, and scrubbed them clean with water.

After some thought, he simply channelled the aura from the Sun Melting Furnace into his palm, quickly drying the robe.

He folded his clothes neatly and then headed towards the foreign affairs hall.

As he stepped out of the courtyard, he encountered two Incamp Colonels with unpleasant expressions, one of whom seemed to have seen Shen Yi before, managing a strained smile, "Congratulations on your promotion, sir. I was also at the foreign affairs hall yesterday."

Upon hearing these words, the other also lifted his head, his eyes filled with envy but not jealousy.

They both earned their credentials by battling demons, but even the Imperial Court's reward required one to be alive to claim it.

"You must be working for General Li, I heard that General Li is injured and needs to rest, you're really lucky… ah, I didn't mean it like that."

The shorter Colonel laughed bitterly and waved his hands as he clarified, "It's not easy for people like us to get a chance to rest."

"Rest?"

Shen Yi, holding his old clothes, could only nod in response, although his eyes flickered with puzzlement.

"Well, I heard General Li is still laid up in the medical hall, and without him leading the team, the foreign affairs hall won't assign you tasks. Isn't it just the right time to rest for a while?" The short Incamp Colonel muttered, before adding quietly.

"Other Deputy Generals won't easily transfer people from under Li's command, so just take it easy and rest."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yi somewhat understood.

To other Deputy Generals, the foreign affairs hall "assigned" tasks, but Li Xinhan could actively select them. Even after his injury, as one of his subordinates, there was no need to worry about being transferred by a strange officer to become cannon fodder.

This was indeed good news, but Shen Yi was slightly speechless; it seemed that the matter of the Demon Crystal would have to be postponed.

"We have urgent matters to attend to, so we will take our leave now."

The two Colonels said their goodbyes and left. After walking a distance, they whispered their complaints almost inaudibly, "Those mongrels in the inner camp, they never help when we're out risking our necks, and when we come back to report, we still have to face their disdain. And now that they need to do tasks, they're short-staffed and pull from us. Why should we?!"

"Save it. If your father's name wasn't Li and you were just a steward from some sect... even if we step back, if you had the strength of the man we just met, you could also get along with Li's people."

The two men slowly entered another courtyard.

Little did they know that Shen Yi's hearing was extraordinary by now, and he had overheard every word of their casual talk.

"…"

He hadn't done anything yet, and the label was already stuck on him.

Of course, Shen Yi didn't care about this; as long as he knew his place, kept his hands off things he shouldn't take, and didn't entertain thoughts he shouldn't have.

With enough strength, even the murkiest waters had nothing to do with him.

He gathered his thoughts and first left the courtyard to return the old clothes to the foreign affairs hall.

"Keep the martial arts in mind for a while before returning them." Shen Yi knew that this was not Baiyun County, and some things were better kept under wraps to avoid undue attention.

"No problem, just don't lose them," replied two unfamiliar Incamp Colonels with a nod, appearing somewhat indifferent.

After leaving the foreign affairs hall, Shen Yi headed for the Demon-suppression Bureau's dining hall.

All the tables and chairs were simply made of wood, and there was no choice in the dishes.

No sooner had Shen Yi sat down than an attendant brought over six large dishes.

Steamed bass, soy sauce pork, boiled pork knuckles with dipping sauce, and three varieties of fresh greens glistening with a hint of oil.

"Colonel, please enjoy your meal. If it's not enough, just call me," the attendant said as he brought over a bucket of white rice.

Shen Yi looked at the table full of dishes, not fussed by the extravagant spread in these tumultuous times.

They were all warriors who risked their lives to protect the land, so the meals should at least be satisfying.

He quickly cleared the dishes on the table.

He took a long, slow breath and leisurely returned to his own courtyard.

At the courtyard entrance.

A tall and robust figure was sneakily peering back and forth.