Cultivating in Different Professions

Su Mu and Luo Anning made their way to the Taiping Government Office.

The Taiping Bureau’s Government Office was silent, solemn, and imposing, just as it had been the several times Su Mu had visited before.

The Taiping Bureau was different from other organizations. It didn’t have a rule for morning roll call.

In fact, at the Wuling City Taiping Bureau, from the Governor Zhao Poni down to the Taiping Captains and Taiping Capital Captains, hardly anyone ever stayed in the Government Office.

They spent their years roaming the outskirts of the Daxing Mountain Range, slaying demons and fiends to prevent them from breaking into Wuling City.

Those who remained in the city were mostly out on patrol, searching for any hiding demons or fiends.

Su Mu had been to the Taiping Bureau several times. Aside from two occasions where he encountered a few hurried Taiping Capital Captains, he had only ever seen the Bureau’s attendants.

"The formal personnel of the Taiping Bureau, besides the Taiping Captains and Taiping Capital Captains, also include the Ti Qi. They are generally at the Body Tempering Realm of cultivation. Most are the descendants of Taiping Capital Captains and Taiping Captains. Due to their limited aptitude, it’s very difficult for them to reach the Blood Transformation Realm. Because of their parents’ positions, they are able to become Taiping Imperial Guards.

"They can only handle some weak, low-level demons and fiends. Their main responsibility is to relay intelligence and messages."

Luo Anning explained to Su Mu as they walked.

She knew Su Mu came from a humble background and that he previously had no way of learning about these things she took for granted.

So, she was thoughtfully filling him in on this common knowledge.

"The Taiping Captains and Taiping Capital Captains are the main force of the Taiping Bureau when it comes to slaying demons and purging evil."

Luo Anning said, "The Wuling City Taiping Bureau has eighteen Taiping Captains and two hundred seventy-one Taiping Capital Captains.

"But after today, the number of Taiping Capital Captains should be two hundred seventy-three."

The number of Taiping Captains and Taiping Capital Captains totaled nearly three hundred. It sounded like a lot, but these individuals were chosen from Wuling City’s population of several million.

Over several decades, they had only amassed a force of fewer than three hundred people, which showed just how strict the Taiping Bureau’s selection process was.

It was these fewer than three hundred people who held back the demons and fiends of Daxing Mountain, keeping them out of Wuling City and giving the city its current peace.

Admiration welled up in Su Mu’s heart.

Su Mu asked thoughtfully, "The demons and fiends in Daxing Mountain... where exactly do they come from?"

"We often speak of demons and fiends, but in reality, there are two types: demons, and fiends. They are actually different," Luo Anning explained.

"Demons are living creatures of the world that have incidentally achieved enlightenment, set foot upon the path of cultivation, and gained sentience. That is how they become demons. In a sense, they are cultivators just like us humans. However, most of them cannot shed their bestial nature. They are bloodthirsty and love to kill, and they are extremely hostile toward humans, viewing us as food.

"As for fiends, whether human or demon, if they are corrupted by the vicious and foul qi of the world, they will lose their sanity and become walking corpses that know only slaughter. That is a fiend."

Su Mu nodded. He had only a partial understanding of these things before, but now Luo Anning had explained it all to him clearly.

Su Mu mused aloud, "So the No-Life Sect from before... they were using the blood of demons and fiends to corrupt people, with the goal of artificially creating fiends..."

"That’s right. A fiend’s body is always filled with vicious and foul qi, which can be collectively called Demonic Qi. The most common type is resentful energy.

"There are folk tales about people who die wrongful deaths turning into vengeful ghosts that take lives. In truth, it’s the resentful energy that turns people into fiends.

"Do you know why the minimum requirement to be a Taiping Capital Captain is the Blood Transformation Realm?

"It’s because those in the Blood Transformation Realm have such vigorous vital energy and blood that they can resist the invasion of Demonic Qi.

"Even so, in the history of the Taiping Bureau, there has been no shortage of Capital Captains, and even Captains, who have succumbed to fiendish transformation.

"Once someone undergoes fiendish transformation, according to Taiping Bureau rules, they must be killed without mercy."

Luo Anning said with a serious expression, "So, when you are out slaying demons and fiends in the future, you must be extremely careful not to let Demonic Qi invade your body.

"If you are ever corrupted by Demonic Qi, you must immediately surge your vital energy and blood to disperse it. Otherwise, once the Demonic Qi reaches your brain, it will truly be irreversible."

As they spoke, the two arrived in a Hall Office deep within the Taiping Bureau, a place Su Mu had never been before.

The Taiping Government Office was immense. Most of it was quiet and deserted, but it didn’t feel lifeless. Instead, the silence only accentuated its solemn and imposing atmosphere.

Inside this Hall Office, there was only a single, elderly man with a weathered face, dozing in a chair. He was wearing a Brocade and Ink Shirt.

On the chest of the Brocade and Ink Shirt was a round patch, embroidered with the large, flamboyant character "Tai."

From Su Mu’s angle, he couldn’t see the character "Ping" on the back.

’How many people pursue the goal represented by that simple word, "Taiping"?’

As Su Mu observed the embroidery, he noticed that the characters on the old man’s shirt were stitched with dark gold thread.

This was a Taiping Captain!

And a highest-ranking Taiping Captain at that!

According to Taiping Bureau regulations, the embroidery for a Taiping Capital Captain uses ordinary black thread.

For a Taiping Captain’s embroidery, there are two kinds of thread.

One is bright gold, and the other is dark gold.

Bright gold is for a Sixth-Grade Captain, and dark gold is for a Fifth-Grade Captain.

The difference between the two lies in strength and merit.

When a Taiping Captain’s strength reaches a certain level, or they accumulate enough merit, they will be promoted to the fifth grade.

In short, the word "Taiping" embroidered in dark gold thread meant that this person was not to be trifled with.

A veteran Taiping Captain was an extremely formidable figure, even one who was promoted based on merit despite an insufficient cultivation realm. In fact, such a person could be even more terrifying.

To be able to accumulate enough merit for a promotion with a slightly lower cultivation realm meant that this person was exceptionally skilled in combat.