Chapter 165: Easier Said Than Done

Reaching the fourth floor, Shen Changqing found himself surrounded by numerous jade walls.

Each wall bore a unique imprint.

Before some, figures sat cross-legged in contemplation, but many more stood empty.

Zhong Ning explained, "These jade walls are crafted through special means, capable of containing a martial artist’s martial arts imprint. Some profound martial arts cannot be contained on paper, but require such special methods to record.

Each jade wall contains different martial arts imprints.

However, the martial arts imprint that each jade wall can accommodate is limited.

In the beginning, there might not have been many experts who could leave their imprints, but as more and more experts emerged, the imprints left became stronger and stronger.

Any imprint that wasn’t strong enough was devoured and expelled."

As he spoke, Zhong Ning led Shen Changqing closer to one of the jade walls.

A heavy aura emanated from it, yet neither man’s expression changed.

"You can come here to study the imprints at any time, and you can also leave your own unique martial arts imprint on the jade wall for others to study," Zhong Ning said.

Suddenly, he turned and pointed to the very center of all the jade walls.

There stood an even taller jade wall.

Upon that wall, words were inscribed.

Shen Changqing followed his gaze and read the characters.

Blood Sea Floating Pagoda Skill!

Imperial Zenith Cycle Fist!

Heaven Slaying Sword Sutra!

"What is this?" Shen Changqing asked, a puzzled look on his face. The words clearly represented different martial arts.

Zhong Ning chuckled. "That’s the ranking of martial arts. That jade wall is called the Heavenly Ranking. It’s connected to all the other jade walls, and the ten strongest martial arts imprints within those walls are qualified to have their names inscribed upon it.

Those whose names appear on it receive a certain amount of merit points each month.

But there’s a requirement: the martial arts that make the list must be made available for others to learn and practice unconditionally.

This is the Demon Suppression Division’s condition for the Martial Pavilion, and also one of the Martial Pavilion’s contributions to the Demon Suppression Division."

Hearing this, Shen Changqing nodded slightly.

To have one’s name on the Heavenly Ranking meant the Demon Suppression Division would reward them with merit points, but at the same time, the martial arts listed had to be made available for the Demon Suppression Division to study and practice.

Unlike sects that focused on solitary cultivation, the Demon Suppression Division emphasized inclusiveness.

After all, the main duty of the Demon Suppression Division was to eliminate evil, and the prerequisite for eliminating evil was to have enough experts.

"Every year, a batch of people enters the Martial Pavilion to study the martial arts within, but not just anyone can enter. Only Demon Slaying Envoys of Black Rank or above are eligible, and even then, they must pay a certain amount of merit points to enter and study."

"Every year a batch of people enters the Martial Pavilion, so can they study any martial arts on the other jade walls as well?" Shen Changqing asked, thinking of the martial arts on the other jade walls. According to Zhong Ning, there were no merit point subsidies for those not listed on the Heavenly Ranking.

"That’s right." Zhong Ning nodded in response.

"To reiterate, the Demon Suppression Division isn’t a charity hall. It won’t just give you benefits without expecting anything in return. Your own martial arts imprint is a kind of return to the Demon Suppression Division.

Any martial art that can be listed on the Heavenly Ranking is a top-tier existence.

If anyone with talent practices it, their chances of advancing to the Grandmaster Realm aren’t small. Only then will the Demon Suppression Division give merit point rewards.

But that doesn’t mean other martial arts can do the same. You should know that the resources the Seclusion Pavilion gives you every year are also a considerable expense."

As he said this, Zhong Ning’s expression turned somewhat melancholy, as if he had recalled some unpleasant matter.

"Actually—"

"If the Martial Pavilion could truly produce a martial artist who breaks the human body limit, then whether it makes other contributions or not wouldn’t matter. But how easy is it to break the human body limit? Even if the Demon Suppression Division has a massive foundation, it can’t unconditionally support the Martial Pavilion forever.

Later, to ensure a continuous supply of resources, the Martial Pavilion also had to make certain contributions to the Demon Suppression Division.

Apart from allowing people to enter the Martial Pavilion to study martial arts every year, the Martial Pavilion must also research and create three martial arts that point directly to the Grandmaster level every three years, and add them to the Demon Suppression Division’s Scripture Repository. If it fails to meet the standard, it’s fine once, but if it fails twice in a row, the Martial Pavilion’s resource supply will be weakened—"

Zhong Ning’s voice was low.

The Demon Suppression Division supported the Martial Pavilion without any conditions in the beginning, but later, the Martial Pavilion had been unable to produce a martial artist who could break the human body limit, and slowly many conditions were attached.

He didn’t blame the Demon Suppression Division for this.

No faction would unconditionally support an organization that was of no use.

Fortunately, those who could enter the Martial Pavilion were people with strong talent in martial arts.

In addition, the Martial Pavilion had a rich collection of books, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to research and create martial arts.

Shen Changqing was silent.

He could understand the Martial Pavilion’s current awkward situation.

The meaning of this organization’s existence lay in how to break the human body limit. If it couldn’t break the human body limit, then the meaning of the Martial Pavilion’s existence would be greatly reduced.

"Fortunately, the Martial Pavilion is only a branch pavilion of the Seclusion Pavilion, otherwise—" Zhong Ning sighed, not continuing his sentence.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

In the next breath, a smile reappeared on his face, as if he had forgotten all the unpleasantness just now.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to the fifth floor to take a look!"

The fifth floor was also the highest floor of the Martial Pavilion.

It wasn’t much different from the fourth floor, with jade walls placed there as well.

But the difference was that the jade wall on the fifth floor was very large, and there was only one, like a wall, standing directly at the top of the fifth floor.

Zhong Ning said, "The fifth floor houses the Grandmaster’s True Intent. This jade wall is different from the other jade walls. It was once excavated by the Seclusion Pavilion from a certain mine, and it can accommodate martial artists’ True Intent.

The jade walls on the fourth floor were made with reference to this jade wall.

Up to now, we haven’t discovered where the limit of this jade wall lies.

It accommodates the Martial Arts True Intent of the Grandmaster experts of the Seclusion Pavilion and even the Demon Suppression Division throughout the ages. Whether it’s Nurturing True Intent or the higher level True Intent manifestation, it’s all a growth process of the Martial Arts True Intent."

"If the Martial Arts True Intent wants to grow, in addition to the martial artist’s own comprehension, it can also use the True Intent of other Grandmasters to breakthrough."

The True Intent of other Grandmasters?

Shen Changqing’s expression froze.

Zhong Ning glanced at him and said, "The transformation of True Intent emphasizes the sublimation of the spiritual level. If you fight against another Grandmaster and defeat their True Intent, you can absorb part of the power contained in their True Intent.

In this way, the Martial Arts True Intent can naturally be promoted."

Saying that, he pointed at the jade wall.

"There are countless Martial Arts True Intent accommodated here. Whenever a martial artist breaks through to the Grandmaster Realm, they will leave their own unique True Intent here, because as long as you comprehend the True Intent here, the jade wall will capture your residual True Intent.

Then, it will use the inspiration of heaven and earth to evolve your True Intent."

Such methods were unheard of to Shen Changqing.

The magic of the Seclusion Pavilion overturned his previous understanding of the Demon Suppression Division.

So, the so-called martial arts here were not just what he had seen before.

"As a member of the Martial Pavilion, you can freely study everything in the Martial Pavilion. Apart from the secret room on the first floor, which requires merit points, there are no other restrictions.

But the Martial Pavilion doesn’t support idlers either. If you enter the Martial Pavilion, you must make the contributions that the Martial Pavilion should make.

Every three years, you must leave your insights on martial arts in the Martial Pavilion, or leave the corresponding scrolls on cultivation for others to learn from.

Or create a new Grandmaster-level martial art, or make a breakthrough on the original realm.

If none of the requirements are met, the Martial Pavilion will reduce the resources given by half for the first time, directly deduct all the Martial Pavilion resources for the second time, and fine 500 merit points for the third time.

In the future, every three years, 500 merit points will be added until you complete one of the conditions, and then everything will be reset and calculated."

Shen Changqing’s face was dark.

Five hundred merit points at a time.

Two times was one thousand merit points.

Three times was one thousand and one hundred merit points.

In total, the Martial Pavilion would use him for free for six years, and if he didn’t make any contributions after six years, he would have to turn around and give merit points to the Martial Pavilion.

He had never mentioned this matter before.

"Elder Zhong didn’t mention this matter before!"

"I’m old, and my memory isn’t very good. Sometimes I forget things easily." Zhong Ning patted his head, looking a little embarrassed.

After seeing the ugly look on Shen Changqing’s face, he patiently comforted him.

"Actually, you don’t have to be afraid. The conditions above are very easy to complete. Besides, the Martial Pavilion won’t keep you here forever.

If you don’t make any contributions for five consecutive times, then you will be expelled from the Martial Pavilion and return to your original place to continue being your Demon Slaying Envoy. Anyway, we won’t always force you to stay here."

"Elder Zhong is really making it sound easy—" Shen Changqing was speechless.

To be expelled from the Martial Pavilion, he would have to give out at least three thousand merit points.

In fact, based on the annual resource subsidy of 200 merit points, the resource subsidy he would get in the Martial Pavilion would only be around 900 merit points.

What kind of Martial Pavilion was this? It was clearly a vampire.

However, Shen Changqing wasn’t worried about anything.

Not to mention breaking through the original realm, just looking at the martial arts he had broken through by virtue of slaughter points, any one of them could be considered a brand new martial art. There was no need to worry about not completing this condition at all.

When the time came, he could just throw out a martial art every three years.

Exchanging a Grandmaster martial art for three years of resource security and the freedom to study all aspects of martial arts was also very cost-effective.

"Actually, the Martial Pavilion didn’t have this requirement in the past. At worst, if someone was really hopeless, they would just be expelled and that would be it. There wouldn’t be any fees charged. But the Martial Pavilion has been running at a loss in recent years, so this is the only way."

Speaking of this matter, Zhong Ning looked sad.

End of Chapter