Chapter 102 - 101: Armed to the Teeth
In the height of summer, Linjiang City was gripped by scorching heat.
The Hundred Households Office had once again returned to normal order.
Recently, the Hundred Households Office had been extremely lively, since they were desperately short on personnel—despite recruiting many from county towns all over, there were still many vacant spots.
As for these vacant positions, they’ve become hot commodities, chased after by countless people. Quite a few renowned experts from the Martial World have come because of this.
Don’t be fooled by the usual disdainful talk from Martial World people about the Embroidered Uniform Guard, calling them "the Court’s watchdogs." In reality, aside from a few who genuinely look down on them, most are just sour grapes because they couldn’t get in themselves.
In this life, what everyone really seeks is just fame and fortune.
But the Martial World is vast—countless people come and go, yet how many truly achieve fame and fortune? Maybe one in ten thousand, if that.
The overwhelming majority march into the Martial World full of hopes and dreams, only to leave battered and empty-handed at the end.
So, places like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, where you can directly obtain fame and fortune, are sought after by countless people. Anyone who’s been beaten down by the Martial World will recall their youthful bravado and self-mockingly smile at how things turned out.
Most of the time, people are just like that—
Full of lofty ambitions in youth, thinking they’re extraordinary, believing they’ll definitely be one of those legendary chosen ones,
But only after truly entering the Martial World and seeing its harsh reality, do you realize that the people you used to look down on are, in fact, out of your reach.
Now, outside the outer courtyard of the Hundred Households Office, those Martial World folks applying seemed a bit restrained; most had been thoroughly beaten down by the Martial World and understood that lesson all too well.
Gu Zhan personally wandered around for a bit,
Amidst people’s astonishment, he returned to the inner courtyard.
Just as he entered the inner courtyard, he saw Rong Yichu coming out of the records room, grinning and asking, "Sir, did you just head outside?"
Gu Zhan nodded. "Went to take a look."
Rong Yichu said, "Good to have a look. Now you’re famous throughout Linjiang County—hailed as Linjiang’s top expert! Many have come here for your reputation. Let them get to know you; lately we’ve recruited quite a few top experts, including several First Grade Realm ones."
Gu Zhan nodded, then asked, "So, how’s that thing I asked you to handle?"
Rong Yichu replied, "I came here just for that, Sir. According to your instructions, I sorted and screened all the Martial Arts Secret Manuals in the Inheritance Pavilion overnight. But, Sir, with your current cultivation, there aren’t many usable martial arts—I’ve put those I found in your records room."
"Good."
Gu Zhan nodded and turned to enter the records room.
There were seven or eight Martial Arts Secret Manuals on the table,
But after flipping through them, Gu Zhan quickly left only four.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Inheritance Pavilion was actually well-stocked with secret manuals, but almost all were Yellow Tier Secret Manuals. With Gu Zhan’s cultivation, Yellow Tier manuals were useless to him; he could only look for Profound Tier ones.
However, Profound Tier Secret Manuals were extremely rare, and most were saber techniques.
Gu Zhan’s Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes was already the highest-level manual in the pavilion. Other saber techniques were pretty much redundant for him, so he looked for alternatives.
But he didn’t need to worry about biting off more than he could chew—after all, with the system in hand, he didn’t mind making himself an all-round martial arts expert: saber, spear, sword, halberd, axe, hook, fork—mastering them all to make sure no enemy could defend against him. That’d be a story worth telling.
The manuals left behind were all Profound Tier Lower Grade.
One Qinggong skill called Cloud-Stepping Step—it focused on agility, using changing footwork to confuse opponents. Its main emphasis was on nimble movement and smooth advances and retreats.
This Qinggong skill wasn’t considered very famous. Of course, there weren’t many Qinggong arts known across the Martial World anyway, since cultivation requirements were harsh and few people could achieve success in this Dao. Plus, it’s not as easy to build a reputation with Qinggong as it is with slaughter techniques.
But for Gu Zhan, Qinggong is a great asset. When he was in the Postnatal Realm, he relied on Cloud Platform Three Falls to rack up achievements. And since few people master Qinggong, it’s especially handy for catching opponents off guard in battle.
Of course, the main thing is—
Gu Zhan doesn’t need to worry about cultivation requirements at all.
Qinggong paired with archery—unstoppable!
Another hard qi cultivation technique, Celestial Spirit Golden Body, very similar to Golden Bell Shield, is a defensive martial art—pretty much an advanced version of Golden Bell Shield. Once it reaches Great Success, you become monstrously strong, and with Innate Gang Qi condensed into a golden body, you can withstand weapons head-on.
Gu Zhan was quite satisfied with this martial art too,
He’s always loved a good brawl; having this skill would cut down on getting injured.
The other two martial arts Gu Zhan didn’t care much about. Though both were Profound Tier Martial Arts, neither had much of a specialty—one was a palm technique, and the other leg skills.
Still, they both greatly boosted overall combat strength. Mastering a variety of martial arts makes it harder for enemies to find your weakness or a way to counter you.
Once the Summoning System finished recording the four martial arts, it immediately started assigning points:
[Spend 500 Experience Points]
[Cloud-Stepping Step upgraded to Entry Realm]
[Spend...]
[Spend 3000 Experience Points]
[Cloud-Stepping Step upgraded to Great Success Realm]
...
[Spend 500 Experience Points]
[Celestial Spirit Golden Body upgraded to Minor Success Level]
...
[Spend 3000 Experience Points]
[Celestial Yin Leg upgraded to Great Success Level]
...
Once the system finished recording the martial arts, Gu Zhan upgraded each of them to Great Success Realm.
After upgrading,
Gu Zhan checked the system at a glance:
Player: Gu Zhan
Realm: Innate Fourth Layer
Cultivation Technique: Fierce Sun Skill (Fourth Floor)
Skills:
Celestial Inquiry Three Slashes (Great Success)
Shadow Arrow Technique (Great Success)
Frenzied Lion Fist (Great Success)
Cloud-Stepping Step (Great Success)
Celestial Spirit Golden Body (Great Success)
Gale Palm (Great Success)
Celestial Yin Leg (Great Success)
Experience Points: 22543
...
Closing the system page, Gu Zhan let out a long breath and murmured quietly, "Now all that’s left is for Yunzhou’s Imperial Censor to bring the second volume of Fierce Sun Skill."
He’d made a deal with the Six Great Families earlier,
He calmed everyone’s schemes, and as compensation, the Six Great Families joined forces to secure him a Thousand Households post. According to the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s rules, a Thousand Households can select one complete Innate Technique as a reward for the position.
Gu Zhan’s request, of course, was the second volume of Fierce Sun Skill.
Meanwhile over at Linjiang Prefecture Prefecture Government, they’d already coordinated with the Shuntian Prefecture Government Office in Yunzhou. Shuntian had sent an Imperial Censorate to investigate and handle some follow-up.
Once the Imperial Censorate arrives, Gu Zhan will definitely be called to report—when the time comes, they’ll give him a little reward, and the second volume of Fierce Sun Skill will naturally be his.
If the Imperial Censorate plays by the rules, they might even bring some high-level martial arts.
Thinking of this, Gu Zhan rubbed his chin and muttered, "Sooner or later, I’ll arm myself to the teeth!"