Daqian Martial Saint

Once the transfer was confirmed, things moved very quickly.

The South Town Garrison Command instructed Chen Ping’an to wrap up his duties at the Nanquan Alley Town Patrol Office within five days, after which he could report to his new post.

On the first night after the transfer order came down, the Nanquan Alley Town Patrol Office was filled with the sound of endless congratulations.

”Congratulations on your promotion, Lord Chen.”

”Congratulations, Lord Chen.”

”...”

Monkey Head, Da Shan, Zeng Jihe, and Mr. Qin also came by to offer their congratulations.

Chen Ping’an took the time to speak with each of them for a while.

Now that he was being transferred to the South City Prison, he would naturally need to bring a few trusted subordinates with him.

He had not yet assumed his new role, but he had heard from Mu Wanjun that his appointment at the South City Prison was not likely to be a smooth one. Having a few trusted subordinates by his side would make handling matters much easier.

Aside from Mr. Qin, Monkey Head, Da Shan, and Zeng Jihe all readily agreed, expressing their willingness to follow him to the South City Prison.

However, Chen Ping’an had only just been transferred to the South Town Garrison Command. As a newcomer, he hadn’t yet established connections with his superiors. Transferring three people at once was no small matter.

It wasn’t a big enough deal to trouble Mu Wanjun over.

Therefore, Chen Ping’an decided to bring only Zeng Jihe with him for now. As for Monkey Head and Da Shan, they would stay at the Nanquan Alley Town Patrol Office, continue their development, and properly serve as Squad Leaders.

Once he was at the South Town Garrison Command, he would figure out a way to get them officially registered.

Monkey Head and Da Shan naturally accepted this arrangement with pleasure.

Once Chen Ping’an became Prison Chief, with his status, if he was willing to call in some favors, getting one or two temporary constables officially registered wouldn’t be that difficult to arrange.

Some things in this world are just like that. A task that seems impossibly difficult to you might be a trivial matter for someone else.

In the days leading up to his transfer, Chen Ping’an was exceptionally relaxed. As a result, he had more time than ever for his daily Cultivation.

Name: Chen Ping’an

Realm: Qi Blood Six Layers Perfection

Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt (Perfection), Flying Locust Stone (Perfection), Public Door Thirteen Sabers (Perfection), Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Horizontal Training (Perfection), Golden Bell Shield (Minor Achievement, 135/160), Gale Saber Technique (Uninitiated, 20/20), Eight Steps Chasing Cicada (Uninitiated, 15/20)

...

Looking at the information on his panel, Chen Ping’an felt a surge of excitement. He had accumulated enough experience points in the Gale Saber Technique to reach the Entry Level whenever he wished.

’Breakthrough!’

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, and the Experience Points on the panel began to churn.

The process and sensation were incredibly familiar. Insights into the Gale Saber Technique flooded his mind.

As a superior cultivation method, the Gale Saber Technique was naturally exceptional. Even at just the Entry Level, it provided far more insight than the Public Door Thirteen Sabers it was built upon.

The saber moved like a gale, swift and whistling. Each slash was like a gust of wind, a relentless barrage that continued until the opponent’s defenses were shattered.

Gale Saber Technique, Entry Level!

A new thread of Qi Blood seemed to infuse Chen Ping’an’s body. It wasn’t much, but it caused the Qi Blood throughout his system to surge violently, like a vessel filled to the brim and about to overflow.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Chen Ping’an’s heart hammered in his chest, each beat bringing a fresh wave of energy.

The Qi Blood circulated through his body, gradually gathering and converging at his Dantian.

Chen Ping’an felt a faint, tingling itch begin to spread from the area around his navel.

The sensation grew stronger and stronger.

Finally...

CRACK!

It was like the cracking of an eggshell.

In that instant, Chen Ping’an had opened his Dantian Qi Sea.

Massive amounts of Qi Blood vaporized into Earth Spirit Muddied Qi, which was then slowly refined and converted into pure Inner Qi within his body.

First Stage of Inner Qi, Initial Qi Sea Transformation: Success!

’The Inner Qi Realm... I’ve made it!’

Chen Ping’an’s heart swelled with an indescribable sense of heroic pride.

The Inner Qi Realm!

Stepping into the Inner Qi Realm meant that he was now an absolute martial arts master, even within the South Town Garrison Command, a place teeming with hidden experts.

The number of Inner Qi Realm masters in the entire South Town Garrison Command could be counted on one hand.

There were only a select few: the Chief of the Patrol Office, the Vice Chief of the Patrol, and the Inner Qi Tributors. Even counting all the great families, gangs, and other powers in the South City, there were likely no more than twenty Inner Qi Realm masters in total.

With his current power, he could go to any of the four districts of the Weishui County City Outer City—north, south, east, or west—and live a comfortable, respected life.

And not just in the Outer City. Across the entirety of Weishui County City, an Inner Qi Realm expert was an absolute pillar of strength. He would receive exceptional treatment no matter which faction he chose to join.

It was safe to say that by stepping into the Inner Qi Realm, he had finally established a true foothold in Weishui County City.

Weishui County was a vast territory, governing dozens of cities. Although most were small, the sheer scale of the region was beyond the imagination of an ordinary person.

It was no easy feat for an ordinary person to establish a foothold in any city, let alone Weishui County City, the very heart of Weishui County.

Sensing the Qi Sea within him, Chen Ping’an was in high spirits.

The Qi Sea was where Inner Qi was stored and nurtured. The more Inner Qi it held, the greater one’s reserves in battle and the stronger one’s endurance.

Of course, storing and nurturing Inner Qi was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

At this moment, Chen Ping’an’s Qi Sea contained only a few wisps of Inner Qi. Yet this tiny amount was a barrier that the vast majority of Qi Blood Realm martial artists would struggle their entire lives to overcome, and fail.

With a slight flicker of his will, the Inner Qi within his Dantian Qi Sea responded, beginning to move at his command.

’What a miraculous feeling.’

He had already completely opened the major meridians and acupoints in his body back in the Qi Blood Realm. Now, his Inner Qi coursed through his body, following his every thought.

Chen Ping’an gathered these few wisps of Inner Qi to the acupoints of his eyes. As the Inner Qi condensed there, he felt his vision sharpen significantly.

He could see the most minute details in the distance with perfect clarity.

With another thought, Chen Ping’an shifted the Inner Qi from the acupoints of his eyes to those of his ears. As the Inner Qi flooded in, his hearing improved dramatically.

Faint sounds he hadn’t noticed before were now as if they had been amplified.

’The applications of Inner Qi are truly miraculous!’

Chen Ping’an was overjoyed.

The applications of Inner Qi were completely different from the methods of the Qi Blood Realm. Used properly, it was an absolute game-changer that could enhance his combat strength in every way.

After testing the acupoints of his eyes and ears, Chen Ping’an went on to test those of his nose. But when he tried to move on to other areas, he found that his initial few wisps of Inner Qi had dwindled to almost nothing, on the verge of being completely depleted.

Chen Ping’an understood and temporarily abandoned the idea of testing other areas.

’Just as I thought. Every application of Inner Qi consumes a certain amount.’

And this was just from moving it around inside his body. If he were to channel it into an external weapon, the consumption rate would be even faster. He had nowhere near enough Inner Qi to be so frivolous.

Forget about external applications; just fully charging and activating the major acupoints in his limbs would require a period of accumulation.

As for imbuing a weapon with it, that was something Chen Ping’an couldn’t even consider at this stage.

Speaking of which, during the battle between Mu Wanjun and the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s Grand Steward, Wu Haihua, the techniques she displayed involved dancing sword shadows and projected bursts of Inner Qi.

Based on what he had learned recently, one could only achieve such a feat by accumulating a terrifying amount of Inner Qi, enough to nearly fill the Dantian Qi Sea.

’It seems Mu Wanjun is almost at the Perfection level of the First Stage of Inner Qi.’

He had only vaguely suspected it before, but now that he had stepped into the Inner Qi Realm himself, Chen Ping’an had a much clearer sense of it.

’Accumulating Inner Qi... I have a long and arduous road ahead of me!’

Chen Ping’an sighed.

With his current reserves of Inner Qi, he had nearly exhausted it all just by experimenting, without even engaging in combat. If the Inner Qi Realm were to be divided into tiers, he would belong to the level where one’s realm had not yet been fully consolidated.

’But...’

’...I have the Golden Finger Panel!’

The existence of the Golden Finger Panel would allow Chen Ping’an to quickly catch up to those veteran masters, and perhaps even surpass them.