I Possess a Scroll of Demon-Subduing Records

Upon arriving at the Jingye Division, Lin Yi sensed that something was amiss.

The gatekeeper, Old Qin, looked serious and didn't greet Lin Yi. When he entered the yamen, he saw several constables, who also looked solemn.

"what happened?"

Lin Yi spotted a familiar face and quickly went over to stop him.

This man is called Zhang Laosan. He often patrols the night with Lin Yi. He has small eyes and is thin. He looks lewd when he smiles, but looks quite upright when he doesn't.

Zhang Laosan replied lazily, "Something happened to the people who went to Qinghe Village last night. Six people went, but only one came back. He's still a bit crazy and keeps shouting that there's a monster. That's why the boss called over all of us who weren't on patrol last night, and we're going to go to Qinghe Village during the day to find out what's going on."

"Is there a monster?"

Lin Yi finally understood why the team members were all so serious.

The duties of the Jingye Division also include slaying demons and monsters, but slaying demons is much more difficult than slaying ghosts.

For a demon to cultivate into a spirit, it often takes decades of arduous training. Therefore, the demons that wreak havoc on the human world have at least a few decades of cultivation, while ghosts have a few years or even more than ten years of cultivation.

Furthermore, ghosts are yin in nature and are restrained by yang energy. A ghost with weaker cultivation cannot even defeat a person with vigorous blood and energy. When fighting against cultivators, it is even more restrained. For example, when Lin Yi first transmigrated and had no cultivation at all, he was able to kill ghosts with a knife stained with evil energy.

Demons are different; aside from the inherent weaknesses of their species, they cannot be restrained by human cultivators.

Besides, the demon race has the most solid cultivation. Most of them rely on years of accumulated cultivation to achieve the level of a demon, and they live a long time and have very rich combat experience.

Unlike humans, who might experience a sudden enlightenment and experience a rapid increase in cultivation, or ghosts, whose resentment might surge and create a new ghost with ten or twenty years of cultivation, they may still waste their high cultivation without knowing how to utilize it.

Lin Yi had been patrolling the Jingye Division for so long, and he had heard many of the old men in the division say the same thing: "Better to see a thousand-year-old ghost than a hundred-year-old demon."

This statement may be an exaggeration; for a ghost to have a thousand years of cultivation is a qualitative transformation, but this statement shows how terrifying demons are.

No wonder the Jingye Division members are so nervous.

That's true. Sending them to catch ghosts is no problem. The Jingye Division is full of strong men with vigorous blood and energy. There's strength in numbers, and even ghosts are afraid of them.

Catching demons is a different story. One slip and you could lose your life. What's more, last night several skilled members of the Jingye Division went out, but only one returned, which shows how dangerous it is.

But this is what the Jingye Division does for a living, and even knowing the danger, they still have to take on the challenge.

Therefore, the police officers all looked solemn, fearing that they would be assigned this task.

"Why aren't you afraid?"

Lin Yi thought Zhang Laosan's attitude was too good. Zhang Laosan said nonchalantly, "What's there to be afraid of? If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. If they really want to send someone as incompetent as me to exorcise demons, what can they do to me if I don't go?"

Lin Yi: "..."

His older brother saw things too clearly, leaving him speechless.

As the two talked, they arrived at the training ground.

Nearly a hundred people gathered in the training ground and stood in a square formation. Lin Yi followed Zhang Laosan and mingled into the group.

I originally wanted to ask for leave, but this incident happened, so it seems a bit inappropriate to ask for leave now.

Guan Buping surveyed the area, his gaze lingering briefly on Lin Yi's face.

"Almost everyone's here. I have something to tell you all first. The brothers who went to Qinghe Village to investigate last night, except for Liu Yuan who risked his life to run back and deliver the message, all perished."

Although many people had already heard rumors, the crowd still erupted in uproar when Guan Buping confirmed it.

The members of the Jingye Division all know that they live a life of constant danger, but it is still very rare for an entire squad to be wiped out at once.

What a vicious guy he must be!

If people feel indignant about this, and then everyone else has to go, won't the trouble fall on their shoulders?

Panic began to spread among the crowd, so Guan Buping raised his voice a few decibels to suppress the whispers and said, "There is a demon in Qinghe Village, but Liu Yuan was able to escape successfully, which means that the demon there is not yet a threat, probably only thirty or forty years of cultivation. This time, I will personally lead the team, and all patrol officers of the ninth rank or above will be on the front line!"

Of the hundred-man team, only seven took a step forward. The remaining low-ranking officers breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Laosan said calmly, "See? I told you, if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. We don't need to panic."

At this moment, Lin Yi hesitated for a moment, then also took a step forward...

Chapter 4 Never Turn Your Back to Another Man

Lin Yi hesitated not out of fear, but because he was assessing his own strength.

Those three months of overtime work weren't for nothing. Besides patrolling and catching ghosts, he also read all the documents available to the Jingye Division.

In particular, basic information related to spiritual practice.

Books from this era are extremely valuable, especially those on spiritual practices.

But the patrolmen of the Jingye Division are always on the front lines, so naturally they need to learn something.

Lin Yi learned basic Qi cultivation methods and basic sword techniques, and also gained some basic knowledge of cultivation.

The nine ranks that Guan Buping mentioned are a standard for measuring strength.

The calculations for human cultivators are naturally different from those for demons and ghosts. After all, human lifespans are not as long as those of demons and ghosts, but human cultivation speed is the fastest, and the differences in talent between individuals are extremely large. Calculating in units of years is naturally inaccurate.

Therefore, a person's cultivation level is measured by their realm of attainment.

Nowadays, the cultivation world is generally divided into two major schools: Qi cultivation and spirit cultivation.

Qi cultivation is divided into two stages: one is refining essence into qi, and the other is refining qi into spirit.

Refining essence into qi refers to transforming the body's essence into qi, which is then stored in the five internal organs: heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Different cultivators, due to their different Five Elements, will have different orders of Qi cultivation, but they all lead to the same goal: refining the Five Elements.

A Qi cultivator who has at least mastered the ability to store Qi within their body is called a Ninth Grade cultivator. Upon reaching the state of perfect fusion of the Five Qi, they are classified as a First Grade cultivator. This is an essential step towards a higher realm, and this realm is known as the Five Qi Converging to the Origin, or the Fourth Grade Grandmaster.

Further cultivation leads to Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation, which involves condensing the Three Flowers. Reaching the first rank, where the Three Flowers Gather at the Top, signifies becoming a celestial being of that era.

Cultivating the spirit involves cultivating the soul and practicing talismans, using mental strength as the foundation and talismans as the means to draw upon the power of heaven and earth.

The standard for measuring a cultivator of divine power is the number of runes that can be inscribed on the spiritual platform with one's mind.

Even the weakest First-Rank Mage can be considered a Ninth-Rank cultivator, but they are far inferior to Ninth-Rank Qi Refiners. However, the strongest Ninth-Rank Celestial Master possesses the supernatural powers of summoning wind and rain and controlling thunder and lightning, which is enough to crush a First-Rank Qi Refiner.

The Jingye Division is mainly composed of Qi Refiners; the seven ninth-rank constables besides Lin Yi are all Qi Refiners.

Lin Yi also practiced the basic Qi cultivation method of Jingye Division, but his Qi sensation was very weak, so he should be considered mediocre.

But after he killed the ghost, his cultivation level increased, and he felt a warm sensation in his internal organs.

He didn't feel like he had cultivated a single Qi on his own; rather, it felt like he was cultivating five Qi simultaneously.

But he can't be the Five Elements Master right now!

Guan Buping is only at the sixth rank now, having cultivated four internal organs. Lin Yi can clearly feel that Guan Buping is much stronger than him, and he is stronger than those ninth-rank patrolmen, so he might as well consider himself to be at the ninth rank.

The team needs to capture demons with 30 or 40 years of cultivation, and Lin Yi himself has 60 years of cultivation. With Guan Buping leading the team, it should be safe. Lin Yi doesn't want to miss this opportunity.

His demon-slaying manual requires him to slay demons and monsters, relying entirely on killing ghosts in the city. In the past three months, he has almost wiped out all the ghosts in Xingsha County, and it's about time he went out to hunt higher-level monsters.

However, to ensure safety, he still said to Zhang Laosan, "Third Brother, please go to my house later and tell my wife that I have to go to Qinghe Village today. I shouldn't be in too much danger. Tell her to stay home and not worry."

Zhang Laosan nodded in agreement, but still complained to Lin Yi, "I didn't expect you to have secretly joined the ranks. But now you're a tall guy, so be careful!"

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

After saying that, Lin Yi quickly caught up with the group.

Guan Buping, with his profound cultivation, could clearly hear the conversation between Lin Yi and Zhang Laosan from a great distance.

It seems that Lin Yi knew about his wife's situation, which is why he told her to stay home and take care of herself before he left.

Thinking about what he was secretly planning to do, Guan Buping hesitated for a moment, then waved to Lin Yi.

"You and I will ride together later!"

Lin Yi: "???"

He's been longing to go on a business trip for so long, but he doesn't even have a personal vehicle.

Including Guan Buping, there were nine people in total, but they only led five horses out of the stable.

They were clearly in pairs, and Guan Buping could have a private car.

His horse was also the best, the one that went out and came back.

Lin Yi was very disappointed. It was fine if he didn't have a separate mount, but he could ride with a young lady. Who would want to ride with a middle-aged man?

But he had no choice; everyone here was a man.

Lin Yi mounted his horse first, and Guan Buping followed and took the reins, naturally wrapping his arms around Lin Yi. At this moment, Lin Yi noticed that the expressions of the other people traveling with him seemed a little strange.

Lin Yi is quite handsome and has a strong masculine presence. But after killing so many evil spirits and gaining Taoist power, his skin has become much fairer. Yesterday, He Dong even wanted him to dress up as a woman and use his beauty to seduce her!

The country is called Qi, and from what Lin Yi knows so far, it is somewhat similar to the Southern Qi Dynasty during the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties period.

It's the one that's "absurd yet beautiful," but Lin Yi has been here for three months and hasn't seen anything beautiful about it; he's seen plenty of absurd things, though.

As the chief constable of the Jingye Division of Xingsha County, Guan Buping's position was second only to the county governor, and most of the time the county governor had no jurisdiction over Guan Buping.

Recently, Guan Buping has clearly paid much more attention to Lin Yi. Perhaps there is another reason behind this?

The gossip spirits of my teammates were burning.

If Lin Yi's skin weren't so good, and he were like the other real men in pairs, people would definitely be able to tell at a glance that it was brotherhood.

Because he's so fair-skinned, he could probably be the top courtesan at the Wind and Rain Pavilion next door to the Cloud and Rain Pavilion. No wonder people would have all sorts of thoughts about him.

Lin Yi felt extremely uncomfortable and quickly dismounted, saying, "I need to relieve myself first."

After returning from urinating, Lin Yi naturally sat behind Guan Buping.

Guan Buping hadn't expected Lin Yi to have so many twists and turns. When Lin Yi returned, he pulled on the reins and made the horse run.

Amid the clatter of hooves, Guan Buping compressed his voice into a thin line and said to Lin Yi, "There's something I need to make clear to you before this trip to Qinghe Village. I hope you won't feel any resistance."

The prefect's second son, Wang Liang, went on a spring outing with friends yesterday, saying he went to Qinghe Village and we haven't been able to contact him since. I'm under orders from the prefect to rescue him. I hope you won't let your emotions get the better of you, understand?"

Lin Yi: "..."

I certainly won't act on emotion, but who knows if that money-grubbing devil in my family might take Wang Liang as a walking heiress...

Chapter 5 I Slidingly Slashed Down a Tiger Demon

Lin Yi suspected that Wang Liang was putting him on a show; the plan he devised last night had given him a golden opportunity today.