Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Further Advancement

Shen Hao didn’t think about that report he had submitted anymore.

In the end, it was because he hadn’t thought everything through before. Only on the way back did he realize that the karma attached to that document was far more entangled than he had realized.

"Careless!"

But even as he cursed his own carelessness, Shen Hao didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong. This was his duty—having found an issue, it was only natural to dig deep and seek the truth. This time, he’d just unearthed a big one.

"If the investigation continues, it shouldn’t fall back on me. Not too bad, I suppose."

According to Shen Hao’s calculations, Jiang Cheng probably wouldn’t try to cover things up, but would report it to the Commander’s Office. And since this case involved too many parties and called for higher authority, the right to preside would almost certainly not come back to him. Most likely, the Commander’s Office would lead directly.

Shaking off these tangled thoughts, Shen Hao wiped the oil from his lips. Today’s sour soup noodles were pretty good—Xia Nu, that dumb slave, was getting better at cooking.

Brocade and Silk came over to clear the bowls and chopsticks, and asked, "Master, are you going to sleep in your room tonight? Should I light the heated floor for you?"

"Mm, go ahead and light it."

"Alright." With that, she carried the bowls and chopsticks out of the study.

By the time Shen Hao put away his things and returned to the bedroom, the whole place was already warm. It was nothing like the chill outside—he took off his coat and socks and stepped onto the carpet, warm and comfortable.

"Master, time to wash your feet."

Hong Xiu and Xia Nu were also in the room. Shen Hao sat down; each of them took one of his feet, washed them clean, dried them, and then left the room in proper order.

Looking around the spacious bedroom, especially at that huge bed, Shen Hao suddenly felt a restless impulse in his heart. He shook his head—any drowsiness was gone. Fine, he’d just get back to yesterday’s cultivation homework.

He didn’t even bother looking for a Puduan cushion—just crossed his bare feet and sat on the bed, mind calm and breath settled, swiftly slipping into a state of cultivation.

Day after day, Shen Hao had thoroughly mastered the Great Five Elements Technique, replacing the runic method of the previous Great Five Elements True Qi Talisman. The effect more than doubled, and with the Black Beast Tattoo’s additional boost, he’d been preparing for another breakthrough lately.

Shen Hao was even deliberately suppressing his cultivation speed now. But after his epiphany, the bottlenecks of small realms were like nothing to him—no difficulty at all.

Just like now: as soon as Shen Hao entered his cultivation state, the already worn and cracked bottleneck of his small realm showed new fissures, right on the verge of collapse.

"Phew... Can’t wait any longer. Tonight, I’ll break through."

With the thought, Shen Hao started to methodically gather his True Qi together, then built up force in his meridians. He purposefully shaped each bundle of Qi at the tip into a sharp point—an experience he’d summarized himself. He knew that honing True Qi into a ’sharp blade’ ahead of time would help a lot with the later breakthrough.

This time too, Shen Hao didn’t need to rely on elixirs. He was still saving them; once his cultivation was higher, maybe he’d need them. For now, with only the Great Five Elements Technique and the Soul Power within the Black Beast Tattoo, he already felt his progress was as fast as flying. Any faster and he’d have no time to stabilize his foundation.

"Let’s begin!"

The next moment, Shen Hao controlled his True Qi to stab toward the already cracked bottleneck of his small realm.

"Crash!"

It was as though a mirror on the brink of breaking was struck by a volley of steel arrows—instantly, it shattered to pieces with a crisp crash.

Even though he was mentally prepared, breaking through a small realm so easily still left Shen Hao stunned for a while.

"So this is... Gathering Spirit Fifth Layer?"

Back then, he toiled just to struggle through the middle and lower levels of Qi Refining. Since the Black Beast Tattoo awoke, his cultivation soared. In just over two years, he had leapt from Qi Refining Fourth Layer to Gathering Spirit Fifth Layer—like living in a dream.

His mind was a bit adrift. The breakthrough was done, but his body was still changing.

His meridians, True Qi, Sea of Consciousness... all expanded again. With the buff from the Black Beast Tattoo, every time Shen Hao broke through he hit the ceiling, gaining the maximum benefit. Stacked again and again, few cultivators in his realm could compare to what he’d acquired.

So-called geniuses were essentially just like this. Only, Shen Hao was a "genius" made after the fact.

Luckily, he snapped out of it quickly, hastily pressing down the surge of True Qi in his body. What he needed now was consolidation, not another leap.

Thus the whole night passed. By early 5 a.m., Shen Hao called for Xia Nu. The half-asleep, dazed slave saw him covered in gray impurities and instantly understood—the master had cultivated himself dirty again and needed a bath. She hurried out to get bathwater ready.

The dumb slave wasn’t so dumb after all.

Taking advantage of the time while Xia Nu boiled the bath, Shen Hao went to the backyard to practice his magic techniques.

With his realm ascended, his Earth Escape was faster and farther. The Palm Snake, too, was much more powerful. Only Soul Suppressing Skill couldn’t be felt directly—it needed real combat to test.

Another interesting thing was the "Intent" Shen Hao had grasped on Chang Baifeng. He discovered that the use of "Intent" didn’t require any special vessel, nor did it need a weapon to trigger.

He snapped his fingers—a flick, and in that moment of friction, a tiny Black Cut appeared, twisting out from between his fingers. It darted several inches before vanishing.

This, Shen Hao had discovered, was a way to train his Black Cut after learning it didn’t require a specific vessel. He could practice even while walking down the street or sitting in the Public Office, allowing himself to wield Black Cut at will.

Unfortunately, "Intent" seemed to be linear, not malleable, with limited use—a far cry from the versatility of True Qi in this regard.

While snapping his fingers to practice Black Cut, he also gripped his sword, training the Light Splitting Slash.

Now Shen Hao’s mindset was steady again. He no longer thought himself superior just because he had a Black Beast Tattoo. After coming down from Chang Baifeng, he understood what a true cultivator was, what a master really meant, and had a sense of his own limitations.

The key thing was that he was still carrying a murder case on his back. The Celestial Toad Sect looked at him with displeasure from both sides. Who knew when that would explode? He needed the strength to protect himself.

As for cultivation, no way he could match them head-to-head in a short time. They’d cultivated for hundreds of years; Shen Hao couldn’t expect to slap them around after just a couple. That’s why Nie Yun’s advice was what he really needed: mix into a high rank in the Xuanqing Guard, and someone would protect him naturally.

So, on one hand, Shen Hao enjoyed the endless intrigue of officialdom; on the other, climbing the necessary steps, battling Heaven itself, was also endlessly entertaining.

As the saying goes, the road ahead is long and far; I will seek up and down.