Chapter 316: Old Martial Arts vs. New Martial Arts

Chapter 316: The Old Martial Arts and the New Martial Arts

The Luo Manor and the Chen Manor were separated by just one street.

The Luo Manor was located in the southern part of Cloud Smoke County, and the family dealt in the silk trade, not only within Cloud Smoke County but even extending to an entire prefecture.

Old Master Luo was charitable and benevolent, often repairing roads and distributing porridge, earning a good reputation in Cloud Smoke County.

Old Master Luo’s greatest pride was having a son who was a martial arts prodigy.

This Luo Bufan possessed extraordinary martial talent, and there was even hope that he might be admitted to the Demon Suppression Bureau on an exceptional basis, becoming a regional overseer.

However, half a month ago, Luo Bufan of the Luo Manor went missing, causing an uproar in Cloud Smoke County. Old Master Luo even offered a reward of seven thousand taels of silver to find his son.

Unfortunately, his son was not found, and a week ago, the entire Luo family was slaughtered, shocking the whole county.

That same night, besides the massacre of the Luo family, the Chen Manor also suffered annihilation, with all seventy-six members of the household killed.

Cloud Smoke County was in turmoil, and the Demon Suppression Bureau sent people to investigate the massacre.

Qi Yuan sat casually, sipping thin porridge, his thoughts wandering: “There’s no glass here, no cannons. If I made these things, wouldn’t I make a fortune?”

This game was indeed suited for farming and developing technology.

But after a moment’s thought, he didn’t dwell on it.

He had to finish the task first; he was still in a hurry to return for the martial arts tournament and to form his golden core.

“Alas, what a pity. The young master of the Luo family and the young lady of the Chen family had just gotten engaged, only to meet such a tragic end.”

Nearby, some commoners whispered among themselves, their words tinged with regret.

Qi Yuan stood up, no longer listening to the chatter of these NPCs.

He had gathered enough information.

Now, he headed toward the Luo Manor.

As he approached the Luo Manor, the entire street grew desolate, with even beggars becoming scarce.

From over a hundred meters away, Qi Yuan could already smell the thick scent of blood.

In the distance, yamen constables had set up a cordon, barring ordinary people from entering.

Was Qi Yuan an ordinary person?

No.

He was a player.

So, he strode boldly toward the Luo Manor.

Ahead, several constables were idly chatting.

When they saw someone approaching, they perked up. But upon recognizing the newcomer, Li Shu hefted his blade and glanced sideways at Qi Yuan: “Qi Er, why aren’t you selling pork? What are you doing here? I thought you were some exalted figure from the Demon Suppression Bureau—you gave me a scare.”

Li Shu often bought pork from Qi Er—well, without paying—so he knew him.

“I’m here to complete a task,” Qi Yuan said. Sincerity was a sure kill.

He felt these NPCs had the right to know this was a game world.

“So, let me in to finish the task. I’m in a hurry to log off,” Qi Yuan said, always one to follow rules and reason. If he weren’t afraid of being too flashy, he’d even carve the word “reason” on his forehead.

Sure enough, his words left Li Shu stunned: “Did you lose your mind after that child bride of yours was taken by Fourth Master Huang?”

Fourth Master Huang had taken Qi Er’s child bride, and Qi Er had even sought Li Shu’s help back then.

The result was predictable—Li Shu owed Qi Er money but never repaid it.

Just then, a man and a woman in black tight-fitting attire walked over.

The round-faced woman was tall, holding a leather whip in her left hand and a large black dog on a leash in her right: “What’s going on?”

Seeing them, Li Shu immediately changed his tune: “Honored ones, this Qi Er is a butcher in town. He’s gone mad for some reason and insists on entering the Luo Manor.

I suspect he might be connected to the Luo family massacre—should we arrest him and throw him in jail!”

His words were venomous.

In this world, being thrown into prison meant either death or severe injury.

Li Shu’s intentions were malicious; he wanted to take this chance to have Qi Er killed.

That way, he wouldn’t have to repay the debt, and no one would know about the scheme he had set up.

Qi Er’s gambling debt and the forfeiture of his child bride—that had all been Li Shu’s doing.

The round-faced woman glanced at Qi Yuan, a playful smile on her lips: “He’s so handsome—clearly a good man.

What a shame, such good looks wasted on a butcher.”

Her words left Li Shu dumbfounded.

The man in black chuckled: “Don’t let your romantic notions cloud your judgment on the mission.”

Clearly, this wasn’t the first time the round-faced woman had acted this way.

At that moment, Qi Yuan looked at the two with a strange expression: “Are you two players too? Players in this game?”

He found it confusing.

This world was a massive game, and yet within it, there were players.

“You’re… a newcomer?” The round-faced woman’s eyes lit up with sudden fervor.

“A newcomer indeed!” The man in black assessed Qi Yuan and made his judgment.

The natives of this world couldn’t utter the word “player.”

“We’re not players—we’re from the Demon Suppression Bureau!” the round-faced woman said. “After this mission… if you survive, maybe we’ll become colleagues someday.”

In this world, looks were justice.

Beauty alone was a sin, but paired with other qualities, it became an unstoppable force in a modern society.

If Qi Yuan were ugly, she wouldn’t bother saying so much.

The round-faced woman turned to Li Shu with a faint smile: “He’s one of us.”

As she spoke, she patted Li Shu on the shoulder.

Li Shu quickly forced a smile, cold sweat beading on his forehead: “This humble one was blind!”

How had Qi Er gotten involved with the Demon Suppression Bureau?

No, he had to inform Fourth Master Huang immediately.

With the Demon Suppression Bureau’s backing, Qi Yuan got his wish and entered the Luo family compound.

The round-faced woman looked around, holding the large black dog’s leash, and beamed: “You should thank me. That constable had ill intentions toward you—I took care of it.

You’re lucky, running into a beauty like me on your first mission.

Anyone else would have tricked you.”

When she patted Li Shu’s shoulder, she had planted a deadly curse.

Qi Yuan blinked: “He still owes me money—and you killed him just like that?”

The man in the black martial attire heard this and quickly said, "Let us not waste time on this nonsense now; our mission takes priority!"

As he spoke, he looked toward the round-faced woman and the large black dog she held on a leash.

"Xiaobai, quick, go sniff around and see if there are any clues." The round-faced woman shook the leash, signaling the large black dog to go investigate.

"This is no ordinary dog, but a Tracker Dog, captured by An Qiao, and highly rare and precious.

This dog is somewhat similar to a police dog in reality, able to scent things ordinary people cannot, making it extremely helpful for our mission.

Though the temperament of this dog is rather... tsk tsk." The man in the black martial attire also warmly explained to Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan also looked toward the Tracker Dog; this dog, like the large black dog in his own Qingshui Village, had black fur, but compared to the abundant energy of the one in Qingshui Village, this dog appeared listless and dead inside, its eyes carrying the pure clarity and foolishness of a college student.

"Xiaobai, quick, go sniff!" An Qiao urged the large black dog.

The large black dog lay lazily on the ground, completely unwilling to move.

The man in the black martial attire on the side laughed, "You want the dog to work, but you do not let the dog eat well."

The Tracker Dog wagged its tail appropriately, as if agreeing with the words of the man in the black martial attire.

An Qiao revealed a fox-like, enchanting smile, "Fortunately, I came prepared and personally cooked a meal this morning."

As An Qiao spoke, a basket appeared in her hand out of nowhere, containing dishes that were currently radiating wisps of heat.

"Storage space?" Qi Yuan looked toward the man in the black martial attire.

In Qi Yuan's eyes, this man in the black martial attire merely served the purpose of an explanatory NPC, so Qi Yuan asked openly and without any pressure.

Holding out a hand to ask a question brought no blush to his cheeks.

The man in the black martial attire also very amiably played his part, "This is not a storage space; this is a martial technique.

Once you become a Vital Energy martial artist, you can also exchange for cultivation methods and practice martial techniques.

The principle of this kind of martial technique is simply to use one's vital energy and blood to construct a pocket space for storage."

"Not bad, a myriad of paths all lead to the same destination," Qi Yuan lamented.

A blood martial artist of the Vital Energy Realm was only comparable to a cultivator of the Qi Refining Realm, yet they could already possess something similar to a cultivator's storage ring.

This was already very impressive.

One must know that to refine storage bags or storage rings, one had to be at least a Core Formation cultivator. And at this moment, An Qiao brought out the dishes and placed them in front of the Tracker Dog.

Qi Yuan looked at the peculiar appearance of that portion of food, and instantly lost all appetite.

The Tracker Dog expectantly sniffed with its nose, and its face immediately slumped into a thoroughly miserable expression.

The man in the black martial attire also smiled slightly.

And at this moment, the Tracker Dog stared at An Qiao, and actually spoke human words, "How about... you eat it first, and then defecate it for me to eat?"

This food was simply not fit for human consumption; the smell was far too suffocating.

Even a dog wouldn't eat it.

It had driven the dog to the point of speaking human words out of sheer desperation.

An Qiao's face instantly turned a deep purplish-sauce color, "Fat dog, eat it or don't, just hurry up and sniff for any clues!"

The Tracker Dog muttered under its breath, "You want the dog to work again, but you won't let the dog eat its fill; you really are quite a dog yourself!"

Though it spoke this way, since An Qiao had already called it a fat dog, if it did not work now, An Qiao would truly become angry.

It lowered its head, sniffing left and sniffing right.

Qi Yuan and the others followed closely behind it, also scanning the Luo family estate.

The Luo family estate was completely empty and deserted, with some bloodstains on the ground.

Yet the bizarre thing was that there were no signs of a struggle.

"Strange, there are no signs of a struggle, nor any signs of fire.

Yet all of their corpses turned into charred charcoal, making it impossible to discern anything at all," the man in the black martial attire said suspiciously.

Last night, they had conducted an investigation on the corpses, and the result was that every single body had become charred charcoal, the foul odor being highly offensive, yielding almost no useful information.

"You really are foolish; it is quite obvious they were burned after death, and as for who burned them, it is clearly that County Magistrate," An Qiao said with a solemn expression.

Hearing this, the man in the black martial attire grew vigilant in his heart, "To think it was him... it seems the waters of this matter run incredibly deep.

However, this mission includes a newcomer, so by all reasoning, the difficulty should be very low.

This Yunyan County not only possesses three major demon factions, but this County Magistrate also... harbors evil intentions; it is very abnormal."

Generally speaking, even under the most difficult circumstances for a newcomer mission, the greatest enemy would only be a single demon of the Vital Energy Realm.

This mission was titled an investigation, and investigation missions were not hard, but the existence capable of wiping out the Luo family was clearly no ordinary demon.

One must know that both the Luo family and the Chen family possessed blood martial artists.

Investigating this kind of demon allowed veterans like them to still have the ability to protect themselves, but for a newcomer like Qi Yuan, it was practically sending him to his death.

"Perhaps it is because I am too extraordinary, so the mission given to me has just a tiny bit of difficulty," Qi Yuan answered with a laugh.

"Your luck is very good to have run into us," the man in the black martial attire sighed.

At this moment, the Tracker Dog also spoke up, "Here, I scent the flavor of two demon races; one is the weasel, and the other is... the aquatic clan. Among them, there is also a scent that is very familiar, as if I have smelled it somewhere before."

"It actually involves two major demon factions?" The round-faced woman's expression also turned unsightly.

Yesterday, Chen Fan had said that there were three demon factions in this Yunyan County that must not be easily offended.

Two of those factions were precisely the weasels and the aquatic clan.

For this single case to entangle both of these factions, how could they not be startled.

"The strongest combat power of the weasel clan is at the great completion of the blood martial realm; among the four of us, except for the captain, no one is his match.

Within the aquatic clan, it is rumored there are even demons above the Vital Energy Realm; difficult, difficult, difficult!" The round-faced woman knitted her brows tightly.

To provoke two major factions all at once in this investigation left them somewhat unable to back down.

Qi Yuan instead looked at the large black dog and inquired, "The familiar scent, what is it?"

As for the weasels and the aquatic clan, Qi Yuan had intended to seek them out in the first place.

Those were, after all, his mobile blood banks.

Right now, what he wanted was to investigate the true cause behind the annihilation of the Luo and Chen estates.

"I do not know," the Tracker Dog shook its head.

Qi Yuan was somewhat disappointed.

His eyes could also see a great deal of information.

But to him, this information was not important.

For instance, he saw that Old Man Huang had once come to the Luo estate, and he also saw that a certain demon from the aquatic clan had been here.

And at this moment, the Tracker Dog's nose twitched; it approached Qi Yuan and sniffed forcefully, "Strange... you also have a scent on you similar to that aquatic clan, yet... it is not quite the same."

"Did you encounter a demon of the aquatic clan?" the round-faced woman asked.

Qi Yuan instead narrowed his eyes, unsure of what he was thinking, "The aquatic clan... I suppose I haven't?"

After arriving in this world, his eyes had been scanning everywhere, searching for useful information.

He encountered no aquatic race.

Could it be a past life?

Even less likely.

He had descended into this world in his true form.

As for Qi Er, he was long gone.

"How strange," the man in black attire frowned.

Just then, Qi Yuan asked, "Do you have any martial techniques or cultivation methods here? Give me some—I want to learn, especially that storage technique from before; I'm quite interested."

Qi Yuan was being a freeloader again.

Anyway, the other party was an NPC.

If they wanted to trade, he would trade.

"Our martial techniques... cannot be traded," the black-clad man shook his head. "You'll have to join the Demon-Suppression Bureau first before you can exchange for them."

"Looks like I'll have to find some martial arts manuals here," Qi Yuan said casually.

His strength wasn't enough yet; he needed to learn some martial techniques and master a cultivation method to boost his power.

"Don't learn the martial arts here!" the round-faced woman quickly warned. "The martial arts here are... old martial arts.

Once you learn old martial arts, it's very hard to change paths."

"Oh? The setting is this complicated, with old and new martial arts?

Which is stronger, old or new?"

"Everyone in the Demon-Suppression Bureau learns new martial arts," the round-faced woman, An Qiao, said then. "Don't be fooled—in this world, old and new martial arts look similar and have the same power.

But there's a clear gap: old martial arts only work in this world.

In a new world, an old martial artist's strength drops by one level.

New martial artists don't have that problem—no matter which world they go to, they retain their power.

In our bureau, there are many senior experts who, unfortunately, didn't know this at first and chose old martial arts. A pity."

The round-faced woman looked regretful.

Qi Yuan was slightly stunned.

"Many worlds? Many games?"

"Yes, each of our missions actually takes place in a different... parallel world," the round-faced woman replied. "Only new martial arts work across all worlds."

Qi Yuan squinted. "This setting... how is it related to the Great Principle Realm of Yang God?"

"Yang God, Great Principle Realm—what's that?" An Qiao asked, puzzled.

Recommending a friend's book, *Fairy, Let Me Help You Cultivate*—a multi-female-lead story. It's really not the author's alt account; don't pressure him. His harem writing is quite spicy, much stronger than the author's skill.

There's a link below; you can bookmark it.

Synopsis: Possessing a Teaching-and-Return System, anyone Qi Yuan instructs who develops positive emotions toward him becomes a return target.

Sword techniques, cultivation methods, divine powers, skills—all returned at 100%.

Thus, Qi Yuan dedicates himself to teaching and guiding.

To fellow disciples and friends, he imparts everything.

Even enemies, he turns into allies.

There's also the cold, aloof junior sister with a pure sword heart, the widowed mother of a destiny's child, and the heiress of the Medicine Valley with an innate seductive physique who yearns to save the world...

Along the way, Qi Yuan has guided and helped countless prodigies, on the verge of becoming invincible.

But then these people turn into romantic debts and come knocking.

Qi Yuan calmly explains, "Romantic feelings hinder cultivation. When your cultivation is complete, we'll grow old together without parting... Huh? You ask why the Joyous Demoness is allowed? Her technique is special—being with me actually boosts her cultivation."

(End of chapter)