The next day, Zhang Jian heard some good news.
Shi Lun passed the examination held by the Cultural Institute and successfully secured a position, allowing him to stay in Haojing.
For this reason, Shi Lun was exceptionally happy. With three years of experience observing the administration of various departments, even if he were assigned a governmental position in the future, his prospects would be much higher.
In his joy, after nightfall, Shi Lun arranged a banquet at the Champion Scholar's Residence, inviting many contemporaries.
That night, many new advanced scholars were drunk to the point of being plastered.
Some were sorrowful, having not been admitted to the institute; some were disappointed, while others were simply happy for successfully securing positions and thus drank openly, making it easy to get intoxicated.
"It's not the wine that gets people drunk; people get themselves drunk!"
Zhang Jian smiled slightly; most of these new scholars were extremely passionate and emotional.
However, there were some who were more composed, or of noble birth, able to control their emotions. After drinking enough, they left, supported by their close family, staggering as they went.
"Brother Zhang, sometimes I truly envy you. No matter the atmosphere, you can always remain sober!"
Beside him, Shi Lun was hiccupping, his face flushed.
Zhang Jian smiled slightly and simply replied.
"When you've drunk too much, you naturally sober up!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Lun glanced at Zhang Jian, seemingly much more sober all of a sudden.
"Brother Zhang, did you know that the He family's young miss is getting married in a few days?"
"He family's young miss?"
Zhang Jian's eyes moved slightly.
Shi Lun sighed, "It's He Yanxia, the young miss!"
"I wonder how Brother Zhan will feel upon hearing this—it must be heart-wrenching for him!"
"Not unexpected!"
Zhang Jian was not surprised.
He Yanxia was also an extraordinary woman, but even such a woman could not withstand the pressure from her family, abandon her parents and siblings, and elope alone.
Born into a family like the Zhang Family, Zhang Jian could deeply feel the constraints of society on young men and women.
For the small landowner class, it might be fine, but in the case of a great family, such private liaisons would be a major scandal, affecting the career paths of fathers and brothers and even impacting the marriage prospects of sisters.
In an environment where virtue took precedence over punishment, moral cultivation was extremely important.
It was also the first impression one made.
The union of his mother Qi Ruoying and Zhang Yi was actually shocking to the world.
Under the night sky, a group of newly minted scholars staggered drunkenly away before the curfew.
But just as he stepped out of the Champion Scholar's Residence, Zhang Jian sensed something and let Zhang Lu and the others leave on their own while he quietly slipped into the shadows of an alley.
Not far away, in a shadow, a figure shrouded in black aura hid in the darkness, a pair of scarlet eyes fixed on soldiers patrolling the street.
His gaze lingered greedily on the soldiers, but sensing the faint presence of divine power around them, he shifted his eyes to focus on some of the drunken individuals emerging alone from the tavern.
Especially the young, solitary guests.
As he locked onto a staggering figure exiting the tavern, he moved as if gliding along the ground, silently hovering at a low altitude.
It was a young martial artist, filled with vigorous energy and dense blood qi!
His silk attire suggested he was quite well off!
However, such a young martial artist aroused even more greed in the eyes of the shadowy figure, unaware of the presence silently hovering behind him.
But in an instant, he sensed something was wrong, and with a hint of unease, he instinctively turned his head but saw no one.
Such an eerie situation caused even the shadowy figure's heart to chill; usually, his appearance would send his prey into a panic.
But today, he felt the same sensation.
As he turned back, he was even more shocked to find the 'prey' he had locked onto had vanished.
This caused his face to change color; black aura churned around him as he prepared to flee like a black wind, only to see a hand appear out of thin air, reaching down from the silver moon. A palm strike landed on his head, and instantly, his form dissolved like black mist under the pure white hand, leaving only a dim soul grasped in its palm.
Facing the calm gaze, the soul of the shadowy figure appeared to have a faint trace of blood light in its eyes.
"Blood Transformation Demon Technique, Blood Shadow Demon Sect?"
Seeing this anomaly, Zhang Jian slowly walked out from the moonlight, a peculiar look in his eyes.
The Blood Shadow Demon Sect was a genuinely demonic sect.
This was not a heterodox sect.
It was a major sect within the demon path, and although not comparable to sects like the Evil Sect, Profound Demon Sect, Taiyin Demon Palace, Secret Demon Sect, Asura Demon Path, the Blood Shadow Demon Sect was still quite formidable.
However, the sect's influence should have been outside the Daqian territory, in the Great Chu territory.
Zhang Jian was a bit surprised.
The figure before him was not an official disciple of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, but merely a Blood Shadow Puppet, made by subduing gifted martial artists, alien races, or cultivators, imprisoning their souls to refine into puppets.
Its purpose might merely be to cause trouble, or to gather essence blood.
A strange light flickered in Zhang Jian's eyes.
Although the Daqian Court was emerging in a turbulent era, the Dragon and Tiger Qi was still in its prime, so why would these disciples of demonic sects come to Haojing City to run rampant?
"Just here to cause destruction?"
Zhang Jian was unwilling to believe it.
He had heard True Monarch Zhanmo mention that demonic cultivators, due to their cultivation techniques being focused on rapid gains, had somewhat twisted personalities, usually needing profit to act.
"Could there be some secret in the capital capable of attracting these people from the demonic sects?"
Zhang Jian was curious but did not wish to stir up trouble as he had a heavy workload. He merely disposed of several Blood Shadow Puppets to protect his family.
After making a round and disposing of a few Blood Shadow Puppets, his expression changed slightly as his gaze turned toward the depths of Haojing City, in the direction of the Iron Pen Judge Temple.
In an instant, he heard a loud explosion, along with the sound of a Divine Office breaking apart.
"That place is…"
Zhang Jian looked in that direction, a bit surprised.
It was the temple of the Iron Pen Judge, a founding civil servant of the state appointed for his integrity and impartiality, also an official of Haojing—a deity with extraordinary divine power.
But if Zhang Jian was not mistaken, in an instant, he saw the divine office being shattered, the entire divine soul taken.
A ripple flickered in Zhang Jian's eyes.
These demon path powerhouses were audacious, daring to provoke even the Sheji Divine Dao.
But Zhang Jian also knew that while the Sheji Divine Dao was rooted in the mundane world and could only establish roots in places with people, those demonic cultivators mostly operated in the Barbaric Land, deep within it; without the presence of deities, they indeed did not easily provoke.
They possessed the capital to act recklessly!
In his line of sight, Zhang Jian saw several streaks of divine light rushing towards the Martial Judge Temple over Haojing City.
However, his Spiritual Gaze detected an extremely subtle demonic qi rapidly approaching his direction!