I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

Here it comes, side quest triggered!

This is not only the most important hidden side quest in the Demon Dungeon at the beginning, but also the only way for players to join the Demon Suppression Division at the start of the game.

In the game "Slaying Demons and Exorcising Monsters," players can choose to join various sects and factions in the martial arts world, including demonic forces if they have the opportunity. However, after years of development by players, the Demon Suppression Division has been rated the highest among all the factions.

Evil spirits and demons roam the land, so the Demon Suppression Bureau was established to slay demons and protect the peace of the common people.

This department was established in the previous dynasty and has been passed down through generations, directly under the jurisdiction of the central government. The department is rich in resources, and possesses almost everything in terms of cultivation methods and classic texts.

In the old days of the martial arts world, each sect had its own secrets that were not passed down to others, and only masters, disciples, fathers, and sons could inherit them. But no matter how strong an ordinary sect was, it was only a local power.

When it comes to collecting martial arts techniques from all over the world and combining the strengths of all schools, who can compare with the Demon Suppression Division?

The Demon Suppression Division is the premier violent agency established by the imperial court. It holds the power to inspect the entire country and supervise the martial arts world. After a century of operation, whenever martial arts sects cause trouble or evil cultivators wreak havoc, the Demon Suppression Division sends troops to quell the unrest, and all kinds of martial arts manuals and unique mental techniques are routinely confiscated and filed.

Over time, the Demon Suppression Division naturally gathered the general principles of martial arts from all over the world. Regardless of whether they were righteous or evil, internal or external, hard or soft, or unorthodox or orthodox, most of the various mental techniques were recorded in the Demon Suppression Division's armory.

Not to mention that the Demon Suppression Division is backed by the imperial court, and its arsenal of weapons, precious medicines, and resources are unmatched by ordinary martial arts sects, so it is naturally listed by players as the number one sect in the game.

The sect offers generous benefits, but the entry requirements are naturally high. Apart from starting in a dungeon, it's extremely difficult for players to have the opportunity to join the Demon Suppression Division in the early stages of the game.

The recruitment process for the Demon Suppression Division should have involved rigorous screening. Shen Qinghan's question at this moment was only made possible because of the urgency of the situation and the life-or-death circumstances.

She was poisoned and her internal energy was blocked. She needed someone to circulate her internal energy through her body for a full cycle according to the method of her introductory technique for the Demon Suppression Division, "The Demon Suppression and Nourishing Essence Technique," so that she could recover as quickly as possible.

However, the Demon Suppression Division has strict regulations that the techniques must not be passed on to outsiders; otherwise, anyone who privately transmits or practices the techniques will be severely punished.

Shen Qinghan thought that if she let Gu Yan join the Demon Suppression Division first, and then taught him the cultivation techniques, although it would not be in accordance with regulations, considering the special circumstances, she thought that if she later completed the onboarding procedures for Gu Yan, the higher-ups would not pursue the matter.

Gu Yan feigned great joy: "I suffered a terrible tragedy when I was young, and all my elders in the family perished at the hands of demons. After that, I practiced martial arts diligently, hoping that one day I could slay demons and eliminate evil. I only wish that no one else in the world would suffer the same fate as me, with their family destroyed and left all alone overnight. This is my only wish."

"If I were to be granted the opportunity to join the Demon Suppression Division by Your Excellency, it would be my greatest wish in life! I cannot express my gratitude enough; from now on, I will dedicate myself to my duties, however small, until my dying breath!"

Gu Yan spoke with force and conviction, his expression filled with sorrow, which moved Shen Qinghan deeply and lessened her suspicions of him.

Little did she know that Gu Yan was using the original background and backstory set for players in the original game, and the lines he spoke were the original lines written for players by the game's scriptwriters.

In the original game, the protagonist's lines mostly listed several options, A, B, C, and D. Players could choose one of them during the dialogue, and the selected dialogue would lead to different plot developments.

Now, Gu Yan was immersed in the game, and he noticed that these dialogue options would appear before him during key conversations. However, he could now choose to either recite the pre-designed lines like in the original game, or he could choose to speak freely according to his own ideas.

The dialogue options in the original game seem like cheat codes he got when he entered the game world.

Gu Yan couldn't help but wonder. Was the "Demon Slayer" game that was already in his mind really just a game?

Or perhaps one's own consciousness is projected into this small world of the game's background in some form, and this world is real, with the characters in the game being real flesh and blood.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. But he quickly realized that no matter how much he thought about it, it was ultimately just a "possibility".

Whether the game world is real or illusory, and whether the NPCs within it actually exist, he ultimately cannot discern.

So he simply stopped thinking about it and treated the game as his cheat code for transmigrating. He could gain cultivation from it, improve his martial arts in reality, and seek a future for himself and his family in reality, and that was enough.

Shen Qinghan observed Gu Yan's dialogue, noting his tone, expression, and the resentment in his words, and immediately formed a judgment in her mind.

—It doesn't look like acting!

So Shen Qinghan nodded: "Alright, then you are now my new trainee constable in the Demon Suppression Division. It's not against the rules for me to teach you the introductory mental cultivation method, the Demon Suppression and Nourishing Essence Technique."

This "Demon-Suppressing and Vitality-Nourishing Technique" consists of only ninety-six characters, and it's impossible for you to master it instantly. However, fortunately, you already have a foundation in martial arts. I'll first recite the incantation to you, and then roughly teach you the circulation of energy through your meridians. You only need to extract a wisp of Demon-Suppressing and Vitality-Nourishing internal energy and circulate it throughout my body according to the instructions in the technique, helping me to open up my meridians."

As she spoke, she began reciting the ninety-six-character mantra.

The "Demon Suppression and Yuan Nourishment Technique" is the introductory mental cultivation method of the Demon Suppression Division. When mastered to perfection, it allows martial artists to reach the peak of the Solidification Realm—the highest level of martial arts entry.

At the same time, it is also the top-tier among all the Qi-stabilizing cultivation methods in the martial arts world.

However, practicing this technique was not easy. Shen Qinghan prided herself on her exceptional talent, but it still took her seven days to even begin to grasp the basics.

Furthermore, her entry into the Demon Suppression Division in seven days was already quite rare. She was highly regarded among the younger generation of the Demon Suppression Division, and everyone called her a prodigy with unlimited potential.

At this critical juncture, expecting this boy, whom one had only met by chance, to learn the ropes in a short time was absolutely a pipe dream.

But she thought that Gu Yan already had a foundation in martial arts, so she only needed to teach him the most basic method of breathing in and out the energy of heaven and earth, then personally help him refine a little bit of internal energy, and then let him circulate it in his body according to the internal energy circulation method of the "Demon Suppression and Yuan Nourishment Technique".

Once Gu Yan's internal energy enters his body, he can then guide that wisp of internal energy to circulate. If he is lucky enough to encounter a young man with decent martial arts talent, it shouldn't be too difficult and shouldn't take long.

But if the other party's aptitude is too poor and they can't refine internal energy in a short time, then she will have to think of another way.

As for the specific understanding and cultivation of the mental techniques, there's plenty of time. Once they're free from their predicament, she will provide more in-depth guidance, and Gu Yan can then slowly explore them at that time.

This was the idea that Shen Qinghan had in mind.

But after only reciting the mnemonic once, she asked, "Did you memorize it?"

To her utter surprise, Gu Yan's reply was neither "I remember" nor "I don't remember".

The boy looked up at her with a sincere expression and said, "I've learned it, sir."

Shen Qinghan: "?"