Chapter 7: Spiritual Talent
Looking at Tan Jian, who lay dead beside them, and then at Xu Yongsheng, who was still as elegant as a jade tree in the wind, his clothes unstained by blood, Ouyang Shu and the others were all stunned.
Even Ma Yang was surprised.
Looking at Tan Jian's corpse on the ground and the surroundings, the battle had ended in just two or three strikes.
He snapped back to reality and looked at Xu Yongsheng: "Well, this trip, it's a good thing we had you."
Xu Yongsheng stepped aside a couple of paces: "Battalion Adjutant Ouyang and the Demon Suppression Guard had already exhausted its Qi. I just took advantage of the situation."
Ouyang Shu, who had been holding his wound and chasing from behind, heard this and asked: "Its tongue, that sudden cold arrow..."
"It did stick out its tongue, but it had no power..." Xu Yongsheng's face first showed a slight confusion, then realization: "Its Qi was exhausted. I imagine it was far less powerful than when it fought with you, Military Marquis. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have been able to block it."
Ouyang Shu waved his hands repeatedly: "I really messed up this time."
Xu Yongsheng: "Thanks to all the Demon Suppression Guard, we were able to capture and kill this fiend and solve a major case."
He was happy to distance himself from this matter. Moreover, Ma Yang was enthusiastic and nostalgic, caring for his neighbors, and had helped him a lot before.
It was thanks to Ma Yang's help back then that he and Liu De, commoners from the city's markets, had the opportunity to enter Dongdu Academy, instead of a prefectural or County Academy.
Ouyang Shu was bandaging his wound nearby: "Commander, there was no spiritual object on this demon today that could obscure divination or deduction."
"It was suspected to be a strange golden ring? Or perhaps it was lost. It's fitting that this case has come to light." Ma Yang directed people to clean up, and finally shook his head slightly: "To be able to catch this fellow's tail so quickly, it's really good luck."
After hearing him explain a few things, Xu Yongsheng finally understood that at the beginning of this year, when he encountered robbers in the North Market, he had knocked them all down and handed them over to Ma Yang. Ma Yang had followed the clues and uncovered many people connected to those small-time thieves.
Finally, he traced it to Tan Jian, who was then a prefectural Military Marquis.
This person was already insatiably greedy at that time, accumulating wealth through various channels. After Ma Yang caught him, he reined himself in considerably, and as a prefectural Military Marquis, he was more cooperative with Ma Yang and the Demon Suppression Guard when incidents occurred in the Eastern Capital.
But he never expected that after a slight suppression, there would be an extremely violent outbreak, committing more than one major case, such as the Yang Mansion massacre, and eventually completely falling into Qi Deviation.
Ma Yang pondered: "I always feel there are still some suspicious points."
Xu Yongsheng looked at the demon's mutilated remains being cleaned up: "I couldn't hold back just now."
Ma Yang laughed: "Of course I know that. Besides, it has completely fallen into Qi Deviation and transformed into a demon. Even if it had some consciousness, it would be difficult to question or interrogate it normally."
With that, he looked Xu Yongsheng up and down: "This is your first time facing a demon, isn't it? Not bad, your hand didn't even tremble. Many new recruits in our Demon Suppression Guard, despite having sufficient skills, often get scared by the strange appearance of demons the first time they slay one, and can't use even half of their abilities."
"Confucius said, 'In education, there should be no class distinctions.'" Xu Yongsheng said earnestly: "This teaches us that no matter what kind of opponent it is, we should hit them all the same."
Ma Yang: "...I find it hard to believe that's what the Saint meant."
He shook his head, no longer idly chatting with Xu Yongsheng, and said seriously:
"You will definitely officially enter the Academy next year, and it's a noble Confucian study. It's normal not to want to be involved in official business.
However, I was the one who asked for your help. You delivered three strikes and earned us a merit, so I can't let you work for nothing. The reward for solving the case, once it's issued later, I'll send it to you."
Xu Yongsheng showed no awareness of the saying 'A gentleman understands righteousness, a small man understands profit,' and asked calmly: "How much will it be?"
Ma Yang: "Ten silver ingots, but half of it might be converted into silk."
Speaking of which, he looked at Xu Yongsheng and smiled again: "You've at least officially entered the ranks. Aren't you going to get a new outfit?"
"This set was newly made last year when I entered the Academy Outer Courtyard."
Xu Yongsheng said frankly: "A long gown is a thousand cash, a sleeveless jacket is four hundred cash, a headscarf is a hundred cash, shoes are a hundred cash, plus other bits and pieces, totaling nearly two thousand. This outfit is good enough for going out and making an appearance. For the rest, I can buy cloth myself and ask Sanlang's grandmother to help make clothes. It's much cheaper than a ready-made clothes shop."
Ma Yang waved his hands repeatedly: "Stop, stop, you'll have money soon."
Xu Yongsheng sighed: "Ever since I started practicing martial arts, I've known I'm a money-guzzler, and the more I practice, the more money I consume. A hundred taels of silver is just a trifle.
Commander, you have a considerable income, but you don't take bribes or exploit others, and sometimes you even help your neighbors. Aren't you also without surplus funds?"
Ouyang Shu, who had finished bandaging his wound, stepped forward at this point: "The superiors are awarding a hundred taels of silver. I will additionally give Young Master Xu ten silver ingots. Young Master, please don't decline, otherwise, how could I accept credit with the Commander?"
Ma Yang smiled upon hearing this: "Second Young Master, don't be polite with him. Young Master Ouyang's family is a wealthy household."
"Commander, don't make fun of me. Although my family has some surplus wealth, how dare we call ourselves a wealthy household?" Ouyang Shu sighed: "There are too many famous and powerful families in this Eastern Capital city."
Xu Yongsheng cupped his hands to Ouyang Shu: "In that case, I thank Battalion Adjutant Ouyang."
Ouyang Shu: "Not at all, Young Master Xu has a wide network, is familiar with the local area, and is a distinguished student of a renowned Academy master with limitless prospects. In the future, I ask Young Master to look after me."
With Ma Yang and Ouyang Shu's assistance, Xu Yongsheng left directly later, without needing to go to the Demon Suppression Guard yamen.
Ouyang Shu's gift and the yamen's reward mentioned by Ma Yang also arrived quickly. For Xu Yongsheng at present, it wasn't a matter of great wealth, but it was a windfall that would nourish his recently dry wallet, allowing him to continue focusing on martial arts.
As time passed, the diting diagram continued to accumulate new information daily.
After some time, three pieces of information, in particular, caught Xu Yongsheng's attention:
One was a martial arts absolute technique called Ben Lei Palm, which Xu Yongsheng could put to use in the near future.
The second was a relatively obscure Confucian sacrificial ritual, used for ninth-rank Confucian Martial Artists to Breakthrough to eighth-rank.
There was no risk of Qi Deviation, but this ritual still had significant drawbacks compared to the Academy's orthodox method, as it would affect the Confucian Martial Artist's future prospects of advancing to seventh-rank.
Unless one possessed a spiritual talent of extraordinary level or above, one could be exempt from the related effects.
Spiritual talent, in this world, is roughly divided into ordinary, extraordinary, superior, and so on, but it is difficult to quantify and test. Even the Academy often infers it more from students' cultivation progress. Others' guesses that Xu Yongsheng's spirituality was not ordinary were misled by the speed of his progress, which was achieved with the help of qianyun ink, silver red blood, and golden moon tokens.
Therefore, although he obtained this ninth-rank to eighth-rank Confucian sacrificial ritual through the diting diagram, Xu Yongsheng, with his ordinary level of spiritual talent, naturally did not consider it for now, waiting for the Academy's orthodox teaching method.
However, when combined with another piece of information, it became somewhat perplexing.
The other piece of information was the most valuable itself:
【heavenly revelation spirit crystal, splendid spring heart, snow rock immortal molt. When these three treasures shatter and resonate on a full moon night, they can help those with ordinary spiritual talent reach the level of extraordinary spiritual talent.】
PS1: I discovered that this book has its first Alliance Leader. Thank you to "A Vulgar Person 0723" for the Alliance Leader's reward, and also to all friends who have voted, given rewards, and supported this book.
PS2: Regarding updates, during the public release period, due to the word count requirements for the new book list, there will be two updates daily, totaling about four thousand characters. The update times will be consolidated, roughly between 12 PM and 1 PM. Additional updates for Alliance Leaders and such will be arranged after the book is officially released.