Cultivating in Different Professions

"Murder and arson pave the way to riches. The ancients truly weren’t lying."

Even someone as resolute as Su Mu couldn’t help but marvel at this.

"Killing a single Wu Keguang netted me over two hundred thousand silver. I’ve completely recouped my initial investment and then some."

Looking at the silver notes he had just collected from the Gubao Elder, Su Mu knew this was an exception.

Normally, the price for assassinating a Martial Artist of the Blood Transformation Realm wasn’t nearly this high.

Take Lu Dashou, for example. His bounty was only a few tens of thousands of silver.

Wu Keguang was so valuable because three separate clients had placed contracts on his life at the same time.

In other words, he could kill him once and collect three separate fees.

The Gubao Elder had said that a windfall like this might not come around once in several decades.

Even the Gubao Elder had rarely seen an Inspector who was so widely despised.

But for Su Mu, another reward was far more important than the silver.

[Name: Su Mu]

[Identity: Silver-faced Killer (Concurrent), Taiping Captain (Seventh-Rank)]

[Points: 3,500]

[Realm: Blood Transformation Realm (Body Tempering Extreme Realm)]

[Divine Techniques: Indestructible Golden Body]

[Cultivation Technique: Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique (Perfection)...]

[Martial Arts: Kan Water Realm (Mastery), Xun Wind Realm (Mastery), Gen Mountain Realm (Mastery), Archery (Perfection)]

His points had increased by 3,300.

Subtracting the 300 base points from his status as a Taiping Captain, the assassination of Wu Keguang had directly earned him a whopping 3,000 points!

That was equivalent to ten days’ worth of base points for a Taiping Captain.

’I can save these points for now. Once I get the Blood Strengthening Pill and break through to the eleventh blood exchange, I can start cultivating the Rebirth Technique,’ Su Mu thought to himself.

He could already predict that improving the Rebirth Technique would consume an enormous amount of points.

If he saved up more points now, he could quickly advance his Rebirth Technique realm later on.

’Something must be seriously wrong with the Taiping Bureau. It’s been so many days, and there’s still no word on the rewards for defending the city, let alone the Blood Strengthening Pill.’ Su Mu’s brow furrowed. ’And when I asked Master Wan about the Rebirth Technique last time, he told me not to worry about it. But it’s been days, and I still haven’t heard back from him.’

The Taiping Bureau had never been this inefficient before.

When he first joined the Taiping Bureau, he was given his official uniform and identity waist token on the spot.

This current situation could only mean that the upheaval in the Taiping Bureau was even more severe than he had imagined.

The loss of a third of their top fighting force had already taken a serious toll on the Taiping Bureau.

’I’m just a humble Taiping Captain. These matters are beyond my control,’ Su Mu thought. ’For me, improving my own strength is what’s most important. The Rebirth Technique isn’t urgent. No matter what happens to the Taiping Bureau, they won’t deny me my technique. My Kan Water, Xun Wind, and Gen Mountain Realms have all reached Mastery, and it will be difficult to bring them to the Realm of Perfection anytime soon. Perhaps I should find some other martial techniques to practice.’

......

For the next several days, Dai Jin, Jia Ren, and Du Yuehua were inseparable. Su Mu couldn’t find a suitable opportunity to make his move.

However, the three Inspectors had become unusually discreet and stopped causing trouble for the Taiping Bureau. Su Mu, in turn, settled in to patiently wait for his chance.

He also began searching for suitable martial techniques.

Before he could find a new technique, Wan Qing summoned him and Luo Anning.

"I had planned to send you out of the city to lay low for a while, but that’s no longer an option," Wan Qing got straight to the point. "Right now, Daxing Mountain is even more dangerous than Wuling City."

"Daxing Mountain has always been dangerous," Luo Anning said, puzzled.

They weren’t leaving the city to lay low because they were afraid of danger, but simply to avoid getting entangled with the people from the Inspection Bureau.

"It’s different," Wan Qing shook his head. "A rare treasure is rumored to have appeared in Daxing Mountain. The recent Tier Five Demon Tide that struck Wuling City was a result of the demon beasts being stirred up by its emergence.

The demon beasts in Daxing Mountain are still restless, and various factions, drawn by the treasure, are now flocking to the mountain to search for it.

With not only demons but also treasure hunters from every major power now in Daxing Mountain, the situation is about to get very complicated."

"What does their treasure hunt have to do with us?" Luo Anning blinked, confused.

"In the past, our Taiping Bureau wouldn’t have feared them. They wouldn’t have dared to stir up trouble right under our noses.

But now—"

Wan Qing sighed and changed the subject. "In any case, you just need to know that the situation is extremely complex right now. Until the Governor and the others return, you are to stay in the city. Don’t go anywhere."

"But if we all stay in the city, who will guard the perimeter of Daxing Mountain? What if demon beasts break out?" Luo Anning asked.

"Don’t worry. The Captains are to remain garrisoned in the city. Old Huang and several of the other Senior Captains have already left," Wan Qing’s voice was grim. "Until the Governor and his men return, the Senior Captains of the Wuling Taiping Bureau will hold the line at Daxing Mountain!"

The "Old Huang" Wan Qing mentioned was Huang Shanzhi, a Taiping Senior Captain.

Currently, all the Taiping Senior Captains in the Wuling Taiping Bureau were like Wan Qing—old and with waning strength. They could no longer endure high-intensity combat, and coupled with injuries accumulated in their youth, all had retired to the reserves to live out their days in Wuling City.

Under normal circumstances, they would never have been needed again.

But with the Taiping Bureau in crisis, the Wuling branch had no one else to deploy.

During the incident with the Level 5 Demon Beast, these old men had already put on their armor and returned to the fray.

Now, with the complex situation outside the city, they were once again stepping up to stand on the front lines.

Su Mu felt a complex mix of emotions.