The Heavenly Court is gone, I don't want to be a True Lord.

Practicing martial arts is a very tedious thing.

Zuo Qi patiently checked for any shortcomings and, after nearly half a month, finally raised the Ice Sea Fist Seal to the third level.

The third layer of the Ice Sea Fist Seal was already quite terrifying. By utilizing the acupoints between the fist and palm, it could transform the qi and blood with the cold energy. The cold energy brought by the punch was even stronger. Zuo Qi tried it out and after dozens of punches, he was able to completely freeze the inside of a piece of bluestone. With just a little more force, the bluestone would shatter.

I can't imagine how painful it must be to be hit by a fist like that.

Having nothing to do makes one feel carefree.

Zuo Qi occasionally went to the manor to check on the new patrol guards who had arrived this year. Zhang Heng had already left, and his two brothers had both lost face in front of Zuo Qi. Knowing that Zuo Qi would become the patrol commander, they naturally did not stay.

The rest of the people were all normal. Perhaps some of them disliked Zuo Qi and his two companions, but they were not as skilled as them and dared not gossip behind their backs.

"Brother Qi, have you seen the patrol guards from before?"

Taking advantage of Zuo Qi's passing by, Cheng Yun stepped forward and whispered something.

Looking at Zuo Qi up close, Cheng Yun felt a surge of emotion. When he first met Zuo Qi, he was just a desperate out-of-towner who had sold himself into servitude. In just over half a year, his strength had surpassed that of the patrol guards, and he had even been appointed by Lin Yuchan as the patrol commander.

The change in his status made him unconsciously more nervous.

The same person, but with completely different auras.

"The former patrol guards? Don't they train here anymore?"

Cheng Yun shook his head slightly. "The six garrisons at the foot of Dongshan have been in the hands of the Sixth Branch for two years. Miss is kind-hearted. Those who survived the previous patrols have been assigned to work at the City Guard. Although they are officials, they can live a stable life. The condition is that they need to go to the garrisons to help out every year for the next three years."

Zuo Qi suddenly realized and asked with some curiosity.

"None of these people have returned to visit Miss Akimoto?"

Cheng Yun shook her head, "They should have been here before, but Miss..."

He glanced cautiously at Zuo Qi.

Not everyone can visit Lin Yuchan.

"I'll have someone go and take a look in a few days."

Zuo Qi didn't take the matter to heart and returned home.

Sheng Lan has arrived.

Zuo Qi smiled. He enjoyed chatting with Sheng Lan, whose extensive knowledge had broadened his horizons considerably.

Of course, Zuo Qi was wary of Sheng Lan. Undoubtedly, Sheng Lan was very beautiful, but the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie.

He could tell that Sheng Lan seemed to be deliberately getting close to him. He had asked her before, and Sheng Lan only said that she liked him, but he didn't believe her.

"Want to try again?"

Zuo Qi nodded with a smile.

The two stood facing each other, sparring and exchanging blows, focusing solely on martial arts techniques and freehand practice, aiming to improve each other's familiarity with various martial arts routines.

Zuo Qi fought him with the Ice Sea Fist Seal, without using any icy or strange power, only colliding with his bare palms.

After a brief exchange, the two discussed their martial arts techniques and each gained something from the experience.

A smile appeared on Zuo Qi's face. Combat experience and martial arts skill level are not the same thing. Sheng Lan has rich combat experience and knows many martial arts skills of varying grades. Zuo Qi has also gained a lot.

However, deep down, Zuo Qi became increasingly wary of Sheng Lan.

three times.

Three times in total, Sheng Lan used power beyond the level of a friendly spar, as if testing the waters.

"How did your fundamental law selection go?"

Three days ago, Sheng Lan brought the list of the fundamental laws of the Six Doors.

"The Guanshan Method you recommended is quite good. The first three levels only require 1,600 merit points, which can be accumulated in one or two years."

Sheng Lan smiled slightly, a strange light flashing in her eyes, "I also cultivate the Guanshan Method."

After explaining, he also reminded me of some precautions when resuming my practice, showing great enthusiasm.

Dispersing one's skills and restarting one's practice does not mean starting from scratch again. Instead, it involves preserving one's own vital energy and blood, forcibly changing one's weak points, energy circulation routes, and so on. This process requires the consumption of a certain amount of vital energy and blood. In addition, depending on the specific practice method, the dispersal of one's skills can be fast or slow.

Zuo Qi smiled but didn't say anything, and saw Sheng Lan off.

As for which cultivation method to choose, he didn't really want to consider the Xuan-level fundamental method. Given his cultivation speed, he might have to change it later anyway, so it would be best to get it right the first time.

He took out two Qi Condensation Pills and swallowed them to refine them.

The Qi Condensation Pill was successfully refined, costing a total of over six hundred taels of silver and yielding twenty-six pills.

Alchemy is a very demanding task, but fortunately, he had a strong spiritual body and the aid of his Heavenly Eye, so he finally succeeded.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to refine elixirs, Zuo Qi also brushed up on his pharmacology and figured out some of the toxicity and medicinal properties of certain drugs.

He felt that he must have some talent in this area.

In private, he experimented with concocting some poisons, which, although not very toxic, had some special effects.

……

Night fell.

Xu You sat on the pleasure boat, holding a letter in her hand, her expression playful.

The people of Fengmai have fallen, and Xu Jiang, wielding a spiritual weapon, has disappeared; he is probably dead.

That's really interesting.

Zuo Qi…

Upon seeing the name sent via secret message, a strange light appeared in Xu You's eyes. This was not the first time she had heard this name; the person she had previously placed in the Lin family had told her about this person's existence.

However, to her surprise, Zuo Qi might also be related to Fengmai's failure this time.

"Xu Jiang's last disappearance was after fighting with this person, and his whereabouts are unknown afterward. Either this Zuo Qi is a spy for some force, or he has a master behind him, the latter being more likely."

As for the claim that Zuo Qi is a third-level practitioner, that speculation is rather audacious.

Practicing cultivation is easy; even if you practice a low-level technique, as long as you don't put in the effort, reaching the peak is not difficult.

The second stage of training is not particularly difficult; most people can achieve mastery within five years.

As for the three training sessions…

The difficulty of cultivation has increased exponentially. Even a genius would need to spend at least two or three years in the second stage of cultivation to break through to this realm.

Even if Zuo Qi manages to break through to the third level, how could he possibly kill Xu Jiang, who is at the peak of the third level and wields a divine weapon?

There are variables related to life bones, but life bones all have their own focus. They can either provide combat power that can sweep through the same realm, such as the monstrous strength of the garrison commander Pei Hanhai, or provide unparalleled cultivation talent.

Very few life bones can simultaneously balance cultivation and combat power.

What's the point of someone like that staying in Fushan City instead of making a name for themselves in the capital or on a wider stage?

"However, since Lin Yuchan values ​​Zuo Qi so highly, providing him with financial assistance and marriage, he must indeed possess a destiny."

Xu You thought to himself, but did not intend to win them over.

Zuo Qi has offended the Fengmai people. Even if he wins them over, the Fengmai people will not let him go, which will ruin the harmony between the two factions.

Once the Six Doors' attention is no longer on Zuo Qi, we can take care of him.

……

Another day.

Lin Yuchan came in from outside in a hurry.

He looked very unwell and told Zuo Qi that it was best not to go out for the next few days, especially not to go to the Chunhe Street area.

Zuo Qi was curious and asked why.

Lin Yuchan said softly, "More than twenty people went missing overnight on Chunhe Street."

"They are not ordinary people, but experts from the Six Doors and the City Guard, including one fourth-level expert and three third-level experts."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qi's eyes widened.

A master of the fourth level? Missing?

How is that possible?

Lin Yuchan looked at Zuo Qi for a long time, as if she was considering whether or not to tell Zuo Qi something.

Finally, she spoke up.

"In the inner city's Embracing Moon Lake, there is a demon's lair. The Six Doors are responsible for suppressing this matter, but a change has occurred in the demon's lair."

Zuo Qi's eyes widened even more.

There's actually a demon's lair in Fushan City?!

He did know about Baoyue Lake, which was a unique attraction in Fushan City. When the late emperor came to Fushan City for inspection, the Xu family diverted water from the Liang River to create a large lake of 4,000 mu in the city for the late emperor to enjoy. They even built a temporary palace for the late emperor on the island in the middle of the lake.

Unfortunately, the temporary palace was not completed before the late emperor left.

The project has been delayed again and again, and more than 20 years have passed, yet the palace on the island in the middle of the lake is still unfinished.

Now it seems there might be more to the story.

Demon's Nest...

"Don't get any improper thoughts, and don't try to be a hero and deal with the demon's lair. That's not something you can get involved in!"

Lin Yuchan sensed Zuo Qi's subtle stirring of interest and coldly warned him.

Zuo Qi: ...

"The demon's lair is not those mindless demons. The Six Doors have a considerable number of demon's lair locations over the years, but they have rarely been able to sweep them away. They have mostly focused on suppression. Do you think it's because they don't want to suppress them? It's because there is real terror in the demon's lair!"

In the martial arts world, the first thing newly initiated disciples of sects are warned by their masters is: never enter a mountain!

Each demon's lair and each demon has its own unique characteristics, and one cannot simply deal with them easily simply by having a high cultivation level.

Just like the skinning demon in Yuncheng, who can disguise himself after killing someone, his intelligence is no less than that of an adult, enough to fool the real thing. The Six Doors of Yuncheng have suffered heavy losses because of this, and so far they can only rely on the Five Refinement God Forging Master to personally take action and suppress him with his powerful spiritual soul to distinguish the real from the fake.

If the skinned demons hadn't been unable to inherit memories, Cloud City would have suffered even greater losses.