South City Hundred Households Office, this night, was brightly lit.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards coming and going all looked extremely busy. The Embroidered Uniform Guards recently transferred from various county towns had begun taking up their posts directly, and by day’s end, the Imperial Prison was packed with detainees.
In a single day, the upper ranks of the White Rat Gang were wiped out. The Embroidered Uniform Guard launched a massive operation to capture White Rat Gang members, sending the entire South City into a state of alarm and panic.
Inside Gu Zhan’s office, Embroidered Uniform Guards kept coming in and out with slips for his approval. Ever since he returned at noon, Gu Zhan had barely rested; only now, deep into the night, did he find a moment of respite.
He lifted a cup of tea and took a sip, then leaned against his chair, gently massaging his brow.
Just then, the door opened and someone walked in—it was Ma Lang, still working despite his injuries.
In the battle earlier today, Ma Lang had sustained some wounds, but they were all minor. After a quick treatment, he immediately resumed leading the arrest squads.
There was nothing else to be done—Gu Zhan had to oversee operations from the Hundred Households Office central hub and couldn’t leave; leading an arrest team required someone with enough authority to command other Embroidered Uniform Guards. Reluctantly, only Ma Lang could take on the role despite his injuries.
Ma Lang, utterly exhausted, sat across from Gu Zhan, knocked back a cup of hot tea, and finally started his report.
The work report ended quickly. Ma Lang drew two yellowed books from his chest and said, "Lord Gu, I heard you’ve been searching for martial arts lately. I found these today while raiding Wang Bai’s house.
One secret manual is the Qinggong Wang Bai relied on for his whole life—Cloud Platform Three Falls. The other seems to be a horizontal hard qi martial art that Wang Bai somehow acquired, called Golden Bell Shield. Both are high-level skills. However, practicing the Golden Bell Shield requires a child’s body, which is probably why Wang Bai never cultivated it."
Gu Zhan raised his eyebrows, somewhat delighted.
In today’s battle, he’d witnessed Wang Bai’s Qinggong firsthand—it was truly exquisite. If not for Wang Bai underestimating him and fleeing single-mindedly, Gu Zhan would have had no chance of catching him.
As for Golden Bell Shield, this martial art was famous throughout the Martial World. It was the Buddhist Sect’s most widely spread martial art, said to, once cultivated to Great Success, condense one’s inner strength into Gang Qi that covers the whole body, reaching a realm of invulnerability to blades and spears, and having no vulnerable points.
However, the reason it became so widespread was simply that the Buddhist Sect did not care for it; cultivation conditions were harsh, and anyone not of a child’s body couldn’t practice it. Even if one succeeded, before reaching Great Success, they could not have relations with the opposite sex—breaking this taboo meant losing all martial skill. But achieving Great Success generally took thirty to fifty years, which was nearly impossible for ordinary people.
So, this cultivation technique was dismissed by the Buddhist Sect and left to freely circulate; many people obtained copies, yet few ever practiced it.
Gu Zhan didn’t mind any of this. After all, he had the system—no matter how harsh the requirements were, they meant nothing before him,
If there was a problem, then it only meant he hadn’t killed enough.
Right away,
Gu Zhan took the two secret manuals and began reading.
Seeing this, Ma Lang didn’t linger and left at once.
Soon,
Gu Zhan had skimmed through both martial arts secret manuals.
There was nothing special about the Golden Bell Shield; it was as the rumors described, quite powerful—an absolute top-tier postnatal martial art, though with arduous cultivation requirements.
But as for Cloud Platform Three Falls,
this Qinggong truly amazed Gu Zhan.
Though it’s a postnatal martial art, if one cultivates it to Great Success, even typical Innate Experts would have trouble catching up.
Cloud Platform Three Falls—three rises, three falls,
Entry Realm is the First Fall: one fall equals three zhang, about ten meters in modern terms,
Minor Success Realm makes for the Second Fall: no external force needed, one fall is three zhang, two falls is nine zhang, totaling twelve zhang—about forty meters in modern terms,
Great Success Realm is the Third Fall: again, no need for external force, you can triple fall in one leap—for one, three, for two, nine, for three, twenty-seven zhang, totaling thirty-nine zhang—that’s about a hundred and twenty meters in modern measurement.
After grasping all this, Gu Zhan couldn’t help but marvel,
this really was a peerless Qinggong skill.
He already knew the Big Goose Skill, which was a decent Qinggong—at best, it made him light-footed and quick, allowing high jumps and climbing. If you cared about distance, the most you could cover was two zhang before needing a foothold; otherwise, you’d fall short.
But this Cloud Platform Three Falls—
was simply terrifying,
it was true flight!
Gu Zhan immediately used the system to record both secret manuals.
After checking the upgrade requirements, he began to level them up:
[Spend 50 Experience Points]
[Cloud Platform Three Falls upgraded to Entry Realm]
[Spend 100 Experience Points]
[Cloud Platform Three Falls upgraded to Minor Success Realm]
[Spend 50 Experience Points]
[Golden Bell Shield upgraded to Entry Realm]
In one breath, he spent two hundred Experience Points, upgrading Cloud Platform Three Falls to Minor Success Realm, and Golden Bell Shield to Entry Realm.
Even when not actively using Cloud Platform Three Falls, Gu Zhan’s body felt different—for example, looking out at the big courtyard through the window, he suddenly felt that if he simply leaped, he could soar right out.
The more dramatic change, however, came from learning Golden Bell Shield,
Gu Zhan could clearly sense that the density of his flesh and skin had grown more compact. When he channeled his energy slightly, even a dagger drawn across his skin failed to leave a mark, only a faint impression.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly glanced over his system page:
Player: Gu Zhan
Realm: Second Grade
Cultivation Technique: Profound Yuan Skill (Eighth Floor 0/5000)
Skills: Wind-Breaking Saber Technique (Great Success)
Big Goose Skill (Great Success)
Mountain-Opening Saber Technique (Great Success)
Jinghong Saber Technique (Minor Success 0/500)
Cloud Platform Three Falls (Minor Success 0/300)
Golden Bell Shield (Entry 0/100)
Experience Points: 84
The next day, afternoon.
Gu Zhan emerged from the rest quarters assigned by the Hundred Households Office. He’d been up late working the previous night and only got to bed at daybreak, so he slept straight through to the afternoon. Just as he was about to go find a meal, Ma Lang walked in, saluted, and said, "Lord Gu, you have a lot of invitations today."
Gu Zhan narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who sent them?"
Ma Lang replied, "They’re from the major factions of South City—almost all the leaders of groups that matter. There are about twenty or thirty of them."
"Throw them out," Gu Zhan said coldly, "The little tricks they’ve been up to in South City—you think I won’t settle accounts with them..."
Here, Gu Zhan paused and asked, "By the way, what’s happening at the Thousand Households Office? Any movement or news today?"
Ma Lang considered, saying, "Not much in the way of action, but I did hear that a notorious bandit has appeared in Shaoyang County. Lord Luo of the Thousand Households is planning to handle the capture himself, and it’s already been filed with the Prefecture Government."
"What a coincidence?" Gu Zhan narrowed his eyes and said, "Chief Banner Ma, don’t throw those invitations away. Reply to each one by name—invite all the faction leaders to a banquet at Baihua Building tomorrow night. I will entertain them personally!"

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