The streets were bustling, and the people were coming and going.
It had been some days since Qin An killed Mr. Wang.
Qin An sat on the bed, feeling the sunlight outside the window, a smile appearing on his lips.
Smoke converged into a line of text, floating in mid-air.
[Dancer lv.3 (0/400), your dances had become more beautiful]
[Talent, Mastery of Hidden Qi Realm Body Skill]
This morning, Qin An finally broke through to level three as a dancer.
The advancement conditions were difficult, requiring Qin An to compose a reasonable dance.
Qin An spent a full two days before finally meeting the requirements successfully.
Just as Qin An thought, the talent after level three was indeed related to body skills.
Qin An took out "Bird Leap," carefully flipping through it, ensuring there were no mistakes, then placed it over the fire basin, burning it to ashes.
This was his habit.
If the cultivation technique were left by his side, and a scheming individual saw it, it would easily invite trouble.
The current situation was dangerous, and Qin An wanted to eliminate all unstable factors to ensure safety.
"It's time to cultivate."
Qin An closed his eyes, and all the routes of "Bird Leap" appeared in his mind.
The so-called "Bird Leap," once executed, was as light as a bird, whether it was leaping or dodging, it could be as light as a bird.
Qin An moved the energy to his feet according to the route of "Bird Leap" and stepped forward.
It was as if Qin An were a nimble wild goose, weaving around the room tirelessly, moving from unfamiliarity to familiarity in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense.
Smoke converged into text.
[You cultivated Bird Leap, triggering dancer talent]
[Bird Leap (Perfection)]
The text disappeared with a bang, transforming into a large amount of information that flooded into his mind.
Qin An stopped his movements, closing his eyes and concentrating.
After several breaths, Qin An opened his eyes fully mastering "Bird Leap."
Body like a bird, rising with the wind.
Qin An shifted his steps and disappeared from the spot.
...
Outside the room.
Chen Chun, holding a long knife, was practicing blade skills, looking extremely focused.
His injuries had fully healed, but he dared not slack off in the slightest, striving to improve every moment.
But he lacked Qin An's talent, so his improvements were limited.
Just as Chen Chun was swinging a stroke, he suddenly felt a breeze behind him. He turned back instinctively, startled.
"How did you get here?"
Unbeknownst to him, Qin An was already standing behind him, looking at him with calm eyes.
Chen Chun felt cold sweat dripping down his back.
Body skill!
He knew that Qin An had definitely cultivated the Heart Method that Mr. Zheng acquired.
The distance between Qin An's room and his position was not close, yet he couldn't even notice Qin An's presence.
If Qin An were to attack him now, he would probably be dead in an instant, not knowing how he died.
But...
Wasn't that cultivation technique supposed to be at the beginner's stage?
Why did he learn it so fast?
Chen Chun didn't know, but he attributed everything to Qin An's terrifying talent.
In the small Ding County, a person like Qin An emerged, not knowing if it was a blessing or a curse.
"Let's go," Qin An said succinctly, "to eat."
Chen Chun came back to his senses, quickly sheathed the long knife, and followed Qin An, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
Such a remarkably talented person still maintained extremely high self-discipline.
Not only in cultivation behind doors, but even in eating, it was hard to imagine.
...
The two walked out the door and sat down at a stall.
Several constables saw Qin An and instinctively avoided getting close, not daring to face him.
Chen Chun observed the constables' expressions, picked up a dumpling with a bit of disdain, and remarked, "Those cowards."
Qin An glanced around and asked, "How do you plan to leave Ding County?"
Chen Chun's hand, holding the chopsticks, paused slightly. He shook his head and said, "It's difficult. Leaving Ding County requires crossing two demonic territories and also guarding against the County Magistrate. There's also the River Saber Sect, which colludes with the yamen."
He understood Qin An's intention, but taking action was challenging.
Qin An took a bite of the dumpling, lost in thought.
There were two solutions to break this stalemate.
One was to try to send Chen Chun to Lingzhou, but this was as hard as reaching heaven.
The second was for Qin An to completely establish himself above Ding County and directly break through everything before him.
Compared to the first option, Qin An found the second option somewhat simpler.
"After returning, give me the Evil Extermination Bureau's blade technique as well," Qin An said calmly.
Chen Chun laughed bitterly, "Practicing Heart Method and blade skills, I really don't know what consequences we'll face when the Evil Extermination Bureau finds out."
Besides his family-inherited Wind-breaking Saber Skill, he had a blade technique from the Evil Extermination Bureau.
With the current critical situation, Chen Chun knew that Qin An was his only hope.
But he worried about the future retribution of the Evil Extermination Bureau.
Qin An wiped the oil off his lips and said, "It's better than dying right away."
Chen Chun sighed and agreed.
After they finished eating, they prepared to leave.
At that moment, Qin An sensed a gaze sweeping in their direction and turned his head calmly.
On the street not far away, a middle-aged man in silk was staring at him.
The man had a short knife hanging by his waist, a fair complexion, but a trace of ferocity in his eyes.
Chen Chun was slightly startled, "The Sect Leader of the River Saber Sect?"
As he spoke, the Sect Leader turned and left the street, disappearing from sight.
Qin An squinted his eyes, "Interesting."
He didn't expect to meet the Sect Leader here.
It seemed the County Magistrate was taking action.
No need to overthink; it was obvious that the actions were aimed at him.
"Let's go home."
Qin An stood up, paid the bill, and walked towards the house.
Chen Chun followed Qin An with a heavy heart, discreetly behind him.
Soon, the two vanished from the street.
...
Back home, Qin An asked Chen Chun for the Evil Extermination Bureau's blade technique.
Scratching his head, Chen Chun said, "The Evil Extermination Bureau requires the techniques to be destroyed once learned. I can only recite them to you."
Qin An nodded, "No matter."
Whether recited or not didn't matter; what was important was obtaining the blade technique.
Chen Chun began to recite.
After the time it took to burn two sticks of incense, Qin An remembered everything, walked into his room, closed the door, and practiced the moves with a pointed knife according to Chen Chun's recitation.
The Evil Extermination Bureau's blade technique was also of the Hidden Qi Realm, named the Demon-subduing Three Blades.
Though it was only three moves, each contained three variations, making it unimaginably intricate.
After Qin An performed them, smoke gradually condensed into text.
[You practiced the Demon-subduing Three Blades, triggering the talent of Mastery of Hidden Qi Realm Blade Skill]
[Demon-subduing Three Blades (Perfection)]
The smoke appeared but didn't dissipate immediately; new text appeared below.
[You hold the Broken Goose Saber Skill and the Demon-subduing Three Blades, attempting to merge the strengths of both]
[After consuming a large amount of Qi and blood, your fusion failed]
[You lamented the butcher's insufficient talent and ended hastily]
A feeling of weakness came from his body; the recently nourished Qi and blood were slightly empty.
Qin An frowned, thinking to himself, "The butcher's talent is somewhat lagging behind."
His Qi and blood were consumed all at once but yielded no results.
"I should first enhance the butcher profession and see if there are new effects after reaching level four."
Qin An decided, planning to open the shop tomorrow.