Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Do You Have Any Manners?
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It was not long before Lu Zhan and the others arrived at the Scripture Pavilion to choose their cultivation methods.
The selection time was limited.
So the moment everyone entered the Scripture Pavilion, they eagerly began searching through the various cultivation methods that suited them.
Lu Zhan was among them as well.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
“Lu Zhan, come over here. You have not chosen a martial art or cultivation method yet, have you?”
Zhao Jun, the man guarding the Scripture Pavilion, spoke in a gentle tone. He looked just like a kindly old grandfather from next door.
“Commandant Zhao, not yet.”
Lu Zhan greeted him.
“Hahaha, just right. This old man is idle with nothing to do, so I can stroll around with you. I might even be able to offer a few small suggestions.”
When the others heard that, their eyes filled with envy.
Commandant Zhao was clearly one of the great figures in charge of the Scripture Pavilion. In a novel, he would have been the sort of pavilion-guarding elder.
His advice alone could save someone at least two years of detours.
But envy was one thing. They could only pretend not to see it. After all, Lu Zhan was better than they were.
“Thank you, Commandant Zhao.”
Lu Zhan did not refuse. Instead, he thanked him.
There were well over a thousand cultivation manuals in the cultivation method section. If he had to choose one by one, his eyes would go dizzy.
What was more, there was a time limit on selecting a cultivation method.
Lu Zhan then wandered along the bookshelves while Commandant Zhao did not speak to disturb him.
Lu Zhan casually took out one manual to look at—Tiangang Righteous Qi Art.
It was best suited for those who possessed a Childlike Heart.
This cultivation method focused on nurturing Tiangang righteous qi within the body, upholding righteousness in conduct, and maintaining a clear and upright heart.
After reading two pages, Lu Zhan felt that he was exactly that kind of person.
Still, although the cultivation method suited him well, he did not rush to make a decision.
He picked up another one—Cauldron Feast Scripture.
It used the body as a cauldron, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasuress as food, and Heavenly Flame for tempering. Its cultivation speed advanced by leaps and bounds, covering a thousand miles in a single day.
Lu Zhan’s eyes lit up.
This Cauldron Feast Scripture matched his Gluttony talent very well.
He wanted it!
Even so, he still did not choose it immediately. He wanted to look a little longer.
Seeing that Lu Zhan still had not selected the cultivation method he wanted, Zhao Jun took out an ancient-looking manual and handed it to him.
“Take a look at this.”
In the distance, Li Buran’s eye twitched slightly. Others might not have noticed because they were busy selecting cultivation methods.
But he had seen it clearly. That manual had been brought down by Elder Zhao from the second floor.
At the very least, it was Spirit Rank, Lower Grade.
Cultivation methods and martial arts were divided into five ranks in total:
Mortal Rank, Spirit Rank, Earth Rank, Heaven Rank, and Saint Rank.
Each rank was further divided into Lower Grade, Middle Grade, Upper Grade, and Peak Grade.
Many official Demon Exterminators were still using Mortal Rank cultivation methods, yet Commandant Zhao had casually brought out a Spirit Rank one.
He simply did not know what grade within Spirit Rank it was.
Although Commandant Li had said earlier that the rank of a cultivation method or martial art was not what mattered most, and that suitability was the key, that was only under the premise that one did not have access to a high-rank cultivation method. If a method was both high-rank and suitable, who would even look at a low-rank one?
Still, Li Buran tactfully walked out of the Scripture Pavilion, pretending he had seen nothing.
Lu Zhan took the manual, only then discovering that it was made from human-skin parchment.
This cultivation method was anything but ordinary.
He opened it and looked.
At once, a heavy aura of ancient years rushed toward him, and deafening sounds of battle seemed to ring out by his ears.
A storm of blood and gore.
Flashes of sabers and swords came at him head-on, and Lu Zhan instinctively gripped his saber.
In that instant, a dense killing aura actually caused the human-skin parchment to tremble. Then it transformed into a streak of light and shot into his glabella.
The human-skin parchment was gone?!
This was beyond Zhao Jun’s expectations.
【Ding! Detected Spirit Rank, Upper Grade cultivation method—Seven Killings Scripture (Fragment). It has been automatically substituted, and daily cultivation speed has increased by 30%】
“Seven Killings Scripture!”
“Just a fragment has such power. If it were complete, who knows what rank it would be?”
Lu Zhan’s eyes shone brightly.
“Thank you, Commandant Zhao.”
This time, his gratitude was utterly sincere. A Spirit Rank, Upper Grade cultivation method—this special treatment could hardly have been more obvious. If converted into Contribution Points, it would have cost an astronomical sum.
“Hehe, it is a small matter. That cultivation method would only gather dust in the Scripture Pavilion anyway.”
Zhao Jun waved his hand with a smile.
A genius ought to receive the treatment due a genius. To hide such things away would only be a disservice to talent.
“Oh, right. I saw your assessment. Your strength is impressive, but your speed is lacking. Otherwise, your score could have been even better.”
“If you ask me, this martial art, Glimmering Light Shadow Escape, suits you perfectly.”
As he spoke, he took another martial art manual from the shelf and handed it to Lu Zhan.
“But I already selected a cultivation method just now. Is a person not only allowed to choose one martial art or cultivation method?”
He was somewhat puzzled.
“Hm? A cultivation method? When did you choose a cultivation method?”
Zhao Jun looked at Lu Zhan with a puzzled expression.
Lu Zhan immediately understood and thanked him again. “Thank you, Commandant Zhao.”
Zhao Jun nodded in satisfaction.
The boy could be taught.
After leaving the Scripture Pavilion, Lu Zhan discovered that Li Buran had gone outside at some point.
“Captain Li, why did you come out?”
Li Buran looked at Lu Zhan with a complicated expression.
He had been afraid that if he stayed in the Scripture Pavilion any longer, he would end up seeing something he should not.
“It is nothing. I just came out for some air.”
“You have all finished choosing your cultivation methods, right? Hm? Lu Zhan, why did you choose a martial art?”
“Cultivation methods are far more important than martial arts. Although you can still obtain cultivation methods outside, most of them are only Mortal Rank, Lower Grade. If you are lucky here, you might even get a Mortal Rank, Upper Grade cultivation method.”
“Are you sure you want to choose a martial art?”
Generally, those who had just joined the Demon Extermination Bureau would prioritize choosing a cultivation method first.
Lu Zhan nodded.
Seeing that, Li Buran found it hard to persuade him further.
Besides, this had been chosen with Commandant Zhao’s help. There was surely some deeper meaning behind it that he himself did not understand.
“Alright. Since everyone has already finished choosing, let us go select your jurisdictions.”
Li Buran regained his calm and said, “There are nine jurisdiction levels in total. Those in the Qi Condensation Realm may only manage a Level-One Jurisdiction, and each jurisdiction may have no more than seven people.”
“Lu Zhan, you ranked first in the assessment, so you choose first.”
Lu Zhan naturally chose Peach Blossom Alley as his jurisdiction, mainly because it was close to home.
It also happened to be a Level-One Jurisdiction.
What surprised Lu Zhan was that Wang Botao and Shangguan Ling also chose Peach Blossom Alley as their jurisdiction.
These were the top three of the assessment, and all of them had crowded into the same place.
Li Buran, however, was not surprised by this at all.
Some of the others who had passed the assessment also wanted to choose Peach Blossom Alley as their jurisdiction, only to be told that its quota was already full.
That meant Peach Blossom Alley already had four Apprentice Demon Exterminators assigned to it.
After everyone had chosen their respective jurisdictions, Lu Zhan continued wandering around the Demon Extermination Bureau.
Only after this stroll did he realize just how enormous the Demon Extermination Bureau really was.
Aside from the storage room and the Scripture Pavilion, there was also the Mission Hall, the Cultivation Room, the Training Room, and more...
The Mission Hall was where missions were accepted and turned in, but most people handled that through an app called the Demon Extermination Bureau App.
So at the moment, the Mission Hall was rather deserted.
As for the Cultivation Room, it was said that a Spirit-Gathering Array had been carved inside. The Spiritual Energy within was astonishingly dense, but the cost of using a Cultivation Room was equally astonishing.
One Contribution Point per hour.
Although Lu Zhan had twenty-eight Contribution Points, that was only enough for one day and four hours of cultivation inside.
Even so, Lu Zhan found that the Cultivation Rooms were still packed.
He saw that there happened to be one Cultivation Room left. Without much thought, he went to the front desk and asked for the key to the last available room.
Yet just as he was about to touch the key, a voice rang out.
“Hold it. I want that Cultivation Room.”
A scar-faced man stepped in front of Lu Zhan.
Such overbearing behavior did not attract much attention.
Someone merely gave a light laugh. “Look at that. Wang Meng is bullying a newcomer again.”
Lu Zhan raised a brow, then replied with perfect politeness.
“Do you have any manners?”
“Get lost!”