Tonight, Linjiang City is very quiet,
Yet, the night is rather beautiful; the pale moonlight falls over the human world, reflecting the vast stars in the sky, stirring a unique feeling in one’s heart.
Gu Zhan stood silently in the darkness, holding two secret manuals in his hands. Slowly, he summoned his system, collected both manuals, and then glanced at his experience points. In today’s battle, he had killed too many people—many of them masters too—the accumulated experience points now exceeding a hundred thousand.
Without hesitation, he used them immediately:
[Use 40,000 Experience Points]
[Fierce Sun Skill upgraded to the Fifth Floor]
[Current Realm raised to Innate Fifth Layer]
[Use 40,000 Experience Points]
[Fierce Sun Skill upgraded to the Sixth Floor]
[Current Realm raised to Innate Sixth Layer]
In an instant, his cultivation rose by two realms.
The surging True Qi within his dantian instantly swept through his entire body; his eight extraordinary meridians and his internal organs seemed to undergo a cleansing, washing away all exhaustion.
At this moment,
Gu Zhan suddenly felt gratitude toward the Six Great Families,
Ever since ascending to Innate, it was the Six Great Families who constantly provided experience points, forcibly pushing him up to Innate Sixth Layer.
Once from Nan Chengshi, once from the Hundred Households Office, and today the Prefecture Government contributed again. Pity that during the massacre, there were hardly any experts left, so the experience points provided were few.
All in all,
Thanks to the Six Great Families, sacrificing lives to help!
After finishing the upgrades, Gu Zhan looked at his remaining experience points—over twenty thousand. Without delay, he continued allocating them:
[Use 5,000 Experience Points]
[Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique upgraded to Entry Realm]
[Use 10,000 Experience Points]
[Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique upgraded to Minor Success Level]
In that instant, Gu Zhan felt as if he’d entered another world,
In that world, he experienced the brink of life and death, gaining a profound realization,
Buddhists often say, "great terror lies between life and death"—so it is here as well.
In that moment, Gu Zhan merely opened and closed his eyes,
His thoughts, from the terror between life and death, became pure silence—void like dead water,
A small blade of condensed True Qi manifested in his palm,
Just then, he suddenly sensed that this dagger seemed alive,
If he unleashed it, it would inevitably reap a life,
This seemed to be a Dao somewhere between life and death,
But regrettably,
He hadn’t reached the Great Success Realm, could only vaguely sense that intent of life and death, unable to master it,
But now, his flying saber
Already possessed both the aura of life and death!
After a while,
Gu Zhan slowly sheathed his blade,
He felt a sense of emotion; worthy indeed of being Earth Tier Martial Arts,
He also finally understood why, whenever Wan Yan used the Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique, it had always felt awkward—because it was Earth Tier Martial Arts, martial skills that only Dao Realm cultivators could truly practice.
Wan Yan, forcing himself to train, counted as somewhat gifted, but his talent on the martial path was not truly extraordinary. He could not comprehend the natural laws of heaven and earth while still at the Innate realm; even with talent and brute force, at most he could exhaust his potential to forcibly reach the Entry Level, never to advance any further to Minor Success Realm.
As a result, Wan Yan’s flying knife had form but lacked spirit.
Overall, Wan Yan’s investment was not worth it,
Even though the Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique is strong, at the Entry Level it’s not necessarily superior to a Profound Tier Upper Grade martial art,
The Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique only truly transcends martial arts at the masterful Minor Success Realm,
If one cannot reach this level,
Wan Yan’s potential was exhausted to little gain,
But gambling is always a matter of fortune and risk,
After all, there are some who succeeded in cross-tier cultivation,
Wan Yan simply did not,
And this too was the price for his impulsiveness and greed.
Now, Gu Zhan finally grasped that sliver of spiritual essence.
Gu Zhan now looked forward to the final style of the Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique,
That power which only a great cultivator could command,
The power of "Dao."
Upgrade complete, Gu Zhan glanced at his system interface:
Player: Gu Zhan
Realm: Innate Sixth Layer
Cultivation Technique: Fierce Sun Skill (Sixth Floor 0/80,000)
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)
Willow Leaf Flying Knife Technique (Minor Success 0/30,000)
Experience Points: 10,236
Linjiang City, shrouded in a deathly stillness,
The extermination of the Six Great Families had a massive impact on every facet of Linjiang City; the Prefecture Government was on the verge of collapse, economy and martial world thrown straight into chaos,
But many now wished to grasp this opportunity to rise,
After all, the era of noble family control over the economy was over,
The vacancy left behind was a monstrous share of profit,
For a while, the entire martial world of Linjiang County was in an uproar,
Many martial world influences, long suppressed in various county towns, now flocked into Linjiang City, and the local gangs began to display their own prowess.
The most delighted, naturally, were the martial world gangs of South City,
They had always closely followed in Gu Zhan’s footsteps. Now that Gu Zhan had won, their opportunity had come as well.
However, Gu Zhan presently had no time to deal with these matters,
The Embroidered Uniform Guard, after several consecutive battles, had suffered heavy casualties; there was much aftermath for him to handle—he’d been busy for days on end, the Hundred Households Office operating round the clock without rest.
At noon that day,
Gu Zhan returned from a funeral. As soon as he entered his study and poured a cup of tea, Rong Yichu suddenly burst in, his expression not quite right.
Usually, Rong Yichu was a man of great decorum, but now he entered so abruptly—even before Gu Zhan, he realized something major had happened and quickly asked, "What is it?"
Rong Yichu took a deep breath, cupped his hand and said, "My Lord... Dragon Pass has fallen!"
Gu Zhan’s hand holding the teacup suddenly trembled, tea splashing all around. He jerked his head up, startled, "What did you say? Dragon Pass has fallen? How is that possible? Yang Yuzhi’s death plan was successfully executed—how could Dragon Pass still be lost?"
Rong Yichu shook his head. "I don’t know the details. Just one incense stick ago, a squad of soldiers entered the city from Dragon Pass. Lord Yang personally received and checked them; he just sent someone to summon you to the Prefecture Government. No further details, only the news that Dragon Pass has fallen!"
Gu Zhan hastily took a sip of tea, grabbed his Horizontal Saber, and headed out.
Soon, Gu Zhan arrived at the Prefecture Government,
Yang Yuzhi was escorting a squad of soldiers out—they must be the messengers from Dragon Pass.
"Magistrate Yang," Gu Zhan entered and saluted, directly asking, "What exactly happened? How could Dragon Pass fall?"
Yang Yuzhi showed a helpless, bitter smile. "Lord Gu, looks like my grave-guarding duty will be indefinitely extended. Dragon Pass... was lost by our own hands. Lord Gu, after all I’ve done, lost so much—what does it all mean in the end?"

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