Li Mujin walked ahead, her thoughts drifting.
Her younger brother was reckless by nature, but his judgment was surprisingly sharp.
She had initially thought that Li Xinhang's attitude towards Shen Yi was overly cautious.
However, after their trip to Shuiyun Village, it became clear that Shen Yi's abilities were indeed remarkable.
Compared to her brother's straightforward approach—bluntly offering "status" and "women" as incentives—Li Mujin preferred to first build a rapport.
She adopted a casual demeanor to ease the wariness that a talented but impoverished individual might have towards a powerful family.
She wanted Shen Yi to feel that there was no difference between them—that they were both spirited martial artists, colleagues who understood each other deeply, and perhaps even someone he could grow close to.
Gradually, she would let him experience the privileges of being a "scion of a noble family."
Once he grew accustomed to it, regardless of his thoughts, in the eyes of others, Shen Yi would already bear the mark of the Li family.
The youth of Qingzhou always repaid kindness with kindness.
Her gratitude when she bowed was genuine.
Her willingness to share the Li family's resources and connections with someone like Shen Yi was also genuine.
In fact, she was prepared to offer even more than usual.
At the very least, the countless precious medicines Shen Yi would need before reaching the peak of the Jade Liquid stage could all be provided by the Li family.
Of course, her desire to bring him under her wing and have him serve her was equally genuine.
This was an instinct ingrained in her from growing up in a noble family, something she had absorbed through years of exposure.
But what Li Mujin hadn't anticipated was that Shen Yi had already seen through her intentions from the very beginning and had subtly rejected her advances.
Recalling how he had repeatedly brushed off her attempts to get closer, it was clear that this young man from Baiyun County had never believed they were on the same path from the start.
Truly... impervious to all attempts.
Li Mujin felt a slight headache coming on.
There was an inexplicable confidence about Shen Yi.
Even though he had come to Qingzhou alone, without relying on anyone, he still managed to stand firm.
She couldn't help but admire him, but at the same time, she was puzzled.
Where did this confidence come from?
Fang Heng, who also came from a humble background and was around the same age as Shen Yi, had only managed to break through the initial stage after soaking in medicinal baths for several years.
Now, he was at the mid-stage of the Jade Liquid realm.
Such talent was astonishing, even to the point of making her father envious.
But what happened? After returning from slaying demons, he was taken in as a disciple by the General.
But that was only after the fact.
Before that, he had come perilously close to death at the hands of a late-stage Jade Liquid demon.
If anything had gone slightly wrong, he would have died without a trace.
Trying to replicate his path would be difficult even for Fang Heng himself, let alone Shen Yi, who was slightly less accomplished.
"..."
Li Mujin stopped in front of a row of courtyards and turned to look at Shen Yi.
He would soon find out.
The true face of the Demon-Suppression Division was one of cold indifference—a place where people were treated as mere tools.
Here, there were countless treasures, but beneath them lay mountains of corpses.
Even with the support of her family, both she and her brother had nearly died in Shuiyun Village.
As for those without any backing, over the years, only a handful had managed to make a name for themselves.
"Make do with this place for now. Let me know if you need anything."
Since Shen Yi was unwilling, Li Mujin didn't press further.
She stretched lazily and waved her hand.
"I'm going to catch up on some sleep."
After she left, Shen Yi turned and entered the side courtyard.
There were eight rooms in total, with a arched wall on the right leading to the next courtyard.
This was the kind of place a Demon-Suppression Division lieutenant should live in.
He chose an empty room.
Shen Yi drew water from the old well in the courtyard and filled a wooden bucket.
He returned to his room and thoroughly washed himself from head to toe.
After changing into clean uniform, he carefully examined the two cloud patterns on the sleeves.
According to what Liu Xiujie had said, each cloud pattern represented a monthly salary of several hundred taels of silver.
This salary was less than what he had earned as the "Skinny Monk," but the real value lay in the monthly supply of cultivation resources.
That was where the real money was spent.
Two hundred taels of silver was more than enough for drinking, eating, buying land, or even getting married.
Shen Yi pushed these thoughts aside and turned his attention to the so-called top three Jade Liquid realm internal techniques in Qingzhou.
His eyes grew increasingly intense as he looked at it.
Opening the book, he found that nearly every paragraph had annotations left by previous practitioners, with potential misunderstandings clearly marked.
This was probably the first martial arts manual Shen Yi could fully understand.
He didn't rush, carefully reading through it.
By familiarizing himself with it beforehand, he could save a lot of lifespan when it came time to deduce the technique.
"Using the power of blood and qi, connect the acupoints within the body to form a fleshly furnace, refining the breath of heaven and earth..."
Shen Yi suddenly remembered something from before.
With the help of a large amount of lifespan, he had once condensed his internal energy into golden Jade Liquid, though only a few drops.
The Wind, Thunder, and Sun Melting Scripture was a method to accelerate this process.
By connecting various acupoints with blood and qi, a Sun Melting Furnace would form, trapping the twelve major acupoints within.
Using the body as the furnace and blood and qi as the fire, it would continuously refine the energy within, much like alchemy.
The human body has 362 acupoints.
Excluding the twelve major ones, there are 350 left.
According to the annotations in the book, a low-grade furnace requires 70 acupoints, a mid-grade one 150, and a high-grade Sun Melting Furnace requires 270 acupoints, making it the pinnacle of high-grade techniques.
The differences were significant.
The stronger the fire, the faster the refinement, leading to vastly different cultivation efficiencies.
In the martial world, such a treasure would be something people would risk their lives to obtain.
In sects, even disciples might not get a chance to see the cover of such a manual.
"..."
Turning to the last page, the copied characters still carried the killing intent of the original.
"Those who privately pass on this technique will be listed on the Demon Wanted List and executed!"
Shen Yi closed the book and summoned his status panel.
[Jade Liquid.
Wind, Thunder, and Sun Melting Scripture (Not Yet Mastered)]
[Remaining Demon Lifespan: 1,500 years.
Can be condensed.]
A vast amount of demon lifespan poured into the Wind, Thunder, and Sun Melting Scripture like a flowing river.
...
[Year 1: You mobilize your blood and qi, attempting to connect the acupoints within your body.]
[Year 2: Your blood and qi are depleted.
You return to the upper volume of the Wind and Thunder Scripture, which once helped you achieve perfection in the Mortal Stage.
Now, you rely on it again to replenish your losses.]
[Year 7: You have gained a decent understanding of the furnace method, though your practice is still somewhat clumsy.
So far, you have successfully connected 76 acupoints.]
[Year 13: You grow more skilled, avoiding all wrong paths.
Combined with your steady temperament over the years, you have made no mistakes.
The 190 acupoints within your body begin to take the shape of a furnace.]
[Year 17: Your surging blood and qi begin to boil, and the Sun Melting Furnace emits a low rumble.
The energy of heaven and earth within your body tries to escape, but it is trapped by the nearly perfect furnace.]
[Year 20: As you breathe and refine, two major acupoints are completely filled with Jade Dew.]
"..."
Shen Yi stopped the infusion of lifespan.
He remembered how, in his earlier ignorance, it had taken him 135 years to fill half of a major acupoint with Jade Dew.
Now, in just three years, he had filled two.
The efficiency had increased nearly two hundredfold.
The profoundness of the Wind, Thunder, and Sun Melting Furnace was undeniable.
But it still wasn't enough.
Logically, since they were cultivating the same internal technique, talent would only affect the time it took to connect the furnace.
The speed of refining energy should be similar.
At the very least, it would take 18 years to reach the early stage of the Jade Liquid realm.
The situation was still far from what those people had achieved.
Shen Yi slowly took out a beast core and two demon pills.
As he infused more demon lifespan, he placed them one by one into his mouth.
(End of Chapter)