Human Clan Defender
Chapter 55 Promotion: To Be or Not to Be

Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Promotion: To Be or Not to Be

Half a day went by. Shen Changqing had not left his bedroom. During this time, Shi Qingsheng came in and out several times, each time bringing a large amount of food. In the bedroom, Shen Changqing finally finished his cultivation and began to check his own status panel.

Name: Shen Changqing

Faction: Great Qin’s Demon Suppression Division

Identity: Yellow Rank Demon Hunter

Martial Arts: Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique (Level 20, cannot be improved), Heavenly Martial Gang Qi (Level 13, cannot be improved), Seven Kills Blade Technique (Level 3), Iron Sand Palm (Level 2)

Slaughter Value: 0

It was just as Shen Changqing had guessed. The Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique, from Level 16 to 19, consumed five points of Slaughter Value per level, but when breaking through to Level 20, the consumption doubled.

Of course, while the consumption doubled, the strengthening effect on his physical body also increased significantly.

Of his forty-one Slaughter Value points, the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique alone consumed twenty-five. The remaining sixteen points only improved his Heavenly Martial Gang Qi by two levels.

At the twelfth level of Heavenly Martial Gang Qi Perfection, a martial artist can enter the Outer Gang Realm. Now, at the thirteenth level of Heavenly Martial Gang Qi, I should be close to the peak of the Outer Gang Realm, but there’s still some distance to break through to the Grandmaster Realm. On the other hand, the twentieth level of the Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training Technique has made my physical defense incredibly strong. Now, even without using Gang Qi to defend, an ordinary Pulse Condensation Warrior will probably find it very difficult to break through my physical defenses. Shen Changqing mused.

Without a real fight, he dared not be one hundred percent certain whether his physical defense could truly overwhelm those in the Pulse Condensation Realm.

However, this was not his main concern at the moment. What Shen Changqing cared about most right now was how to break through to the Grandmaster Realm.

To tell the truth, he didn’t know much about the Grandmaster Realm.

When he was on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, he had only a vague understanding of even the Innate Realm, let alone the Grandmaster Realm; at most, he was somewhat familiar with the names of the realms.

It was only after the Demon-Subduing Division provided the Heavenly Martial Gang Qi that he truly came to understand the Innate Realm.

But for the Grandmaster Realm that came after the Innate Realm, Shen Changqing was completely in the dark.

What is a Grandmaster?

How does one break through to the Grandmaster Realm?

He had no clue whatsoever.

The second floor of the Scripture Pavilion might have records about Grandmasters, but Cultivation Techniques related to Grandmasters are most likely found on the third floor. With my status as a Yellow Rank Demon Hunter, reaching the second floor is the absolute limit. Unless—I can get promoted to Profound Rank Demon Hunter, then it would be a different story!

Shen Changqing toyed with the Pure Spirit Jade Pendant in his hands. Submitting this item could very well enable him to be directly promoted to Profound Rank Demon Hunter.

If the promotion was successful, his benefits in all aspects would improve.

Accordingly, the danger involved in future missions would also rise sharply.

Yellow Rank Demon Hunters mostly carried out missions involving Ghostly Level Fiends; the most dangerous they undertook was assisting Profound Rank Demon Hunters in dealing with Resentment Level Monsters.

For Shen Changqing, whether they were Ghostly Level Fiends or Resentment Level Monsters, there shouldn’t be much of a problem with his current capabilities.

But if he were promoted to Profound Rank Demon Hunter, unlucky missions could very likely involve higher-level Demon Evil.

Take Liu Chang, for example. A respectable Steward for the Demon Hunting Court of the Huang Department and a Profound Rank Demon Hunter in his own right, he should have had a secure position. Instead, he died at the hands of a Fiend Level Strange Monster.

This showed that although there were many benefits to advancing in rank, the dangers were equally numerous.

Should he remain at the Yellow Rank, calmly carrying out missions and harvesting low-level Demon Evil for a steady income, or should he climb the ranks, face powerful Demon Evil, and harvest large amounts of Slaughter Value?

This was a difficult choice.

After all, weak Ghostly Level Fiends might provide only eight or ten points of Slaughter Value, while stronger ones might offer a dozen or so.

But in the case of Resentment Level Monsters, the Slaughter Value provided was much more substantial. A Resentment Level Monster as strong as Wen Rong, for instance, directly provided thirty points of Slaughter Value, comparable to painstakingly slaying two or three Ghostly Level Fiends.

However, the inherent risks were also not low.

I’ll wait and see. Everything can be decided after I return to the Demon-Subduing Division.

Shen Changqing took a deep breath. His current task was still to maintain his post in Lin’an City.

According to information from the Heavenly Inspection Guard, the Demon’s Essence Blood should appear in a few more days. Moreover, based on the timeline, the County Magistrate officially appointed by the Imperial Court should also be arriving soon.

The Heavenly Inspection Guard has already received news of me slaying the Zhang Family Demonfolk, and my breakthrough to the Innate Realm will probably be hard to conceal. But with the Pulse Condensation Pill as a pretext, breaking through to the Innate Realm is somewhat plausible. My foundation is ultimately too shallow. I want to rapidly increase my strength, yet I don’t want to attract any attention. How could there be such a perfect, have-it-all-ways good thing in this world?

Shen Changqing had long been mentally prepared for the current situation.

Keeping a low profile in the Demon-Subduing Division and quietly accumulating Slaughter Value to improve his realm was a viable strategy, but such progress would be too slow.

So, exposure was sooner or later inevitable.

In any case, now that the Pulse Condensation Pill served as an excuse, a breakthrough to the Innate Realm, although somewhat astounding, was not entirely unexplainable.

Moreover, breaking through to the Innate Realm didn’t necessarily mean he had to advance to Profound Rank Demon Hunter.

Just like Trainee Demon Hunters, the promotion from Yellow Rank Demon Hunter to Profound Rank also required an assessment task.

Moreover, Yellow Rank Demon Hunters had a five-year grace period.

Any Yellow Rank Demon Hunter could spend five years accumulating strength without participating in the assessment; only when the five years were up would they be compulsorily assessed.

If successful, they would naturally be promoted to Profound Rank Demon Hunter. But if they failed, bad luck might mean death. If they were fortunate enough to survive, their next mission would still be an assessment mission.

In this regard, the Demon-Subduing Division demonstrated sufficient cold-bloodedness and cruelty.

However, similarly, unless the five-year term was reached, under normal circumstances, the Demon-Subduing Division would not force a Yellow Rank Demon Hunter to participate in assessment missions.

As for what constituted abnormal circumstances, Shen Changqing had no idea.

Rising, he left the bedroom. Shen Changqing found Shi Qingsheng. "Principal Clerk Shi," he said, "draft a public notice immediately and post it to explain what happened at the Zhang Family yesterday."

The appearance of Demon Evil at the Zhang Family, which was then burned to the ground, was a significant event for the people of Lin’an City. Thus, the Yamen had to provide a reasonable explanation to calm the public’s mind.

At the same time, Shen Changqing also went to the study, wrote down the incident at the Zhang Family, and prepared to send the report to the Demon-Subduing Division.

Simply annihilating the Zhang Family didn’t require reporting to the Demon-Subduing Division.

However, since the Zhang Family was an Eternal Alliance Stronghold in Lin’an City, the matter could be considered minor or major.

To be on the safe side, Shen Changqing still decided to send the report back.

In the letter, he wrote down everything exactly as it had occurred, but he didn’t reveal the full extent of the strength of the Demonfolk from the Zhang Family.

After writing the letter, Shen Changqing changed into plain clothes and went to the Yongfu Pawnshop. He handed the letter to Situ Bei, asking him to pass the message to the Demon-Subduing Division through the Heavenly Inspection Guard.

「At the same time.」

The Yamen’s public notice was officially posted.

Instantly, many citizens gathered around it, discussing its contents animatedly.

"Is there anyone who can read here to help interpret it for us?"

"I can’t believe the Zhang Family was exterminated by Demon Evil! It’s such a pity!"

"Yes, just a few days ago, I was still chatting with Steward Zhang. Now, in just a few days, he’s gone—"

The onlooking citizens were all shaking their heads and sighing. Some of them had some connection to the Zhang Family, while others were purely lamenting the frailty of human life.

"Was the Zhang Family only exterminated by Demon Evil yesterday?"

Among the crowd, Cui Cheng looked at the posted notice, his eyebrows slightly knitted. He originally thought that the Zhang Family had colluded with Demon Evil and had been exterminated by Shen Changqing. But now, reading the notice, it seemed as if the Zhang Family had suddenly been wiped out by Demon Evil, and then the Yamen had rushed over to eliminate the fiends.

The content of the notice seemed logical and reasonable.

But in Cui Cheng’s eyes, it was full of holes.

As early as when Shen Changqing had summoned them, it was evident that the Zhang Family, as an Eternal Alliance Stronghold, was not a recent affair. If the Zhang Family had not colluded with Demon Evil, they should have been killed by it long ago.

Yet, the discussions among the common folk contradicted his assumption that the Zhang Family had been annihilated long ago.

Not only was Cui Cheng perplexed, but Zhao Yue, standing beside him, also looked very confused.

"Senior Brother, so the Zhang Family didn’t collude with Demon Evil, but was only recently exterminated by them?" she asked, turning to look at him and meeting Cui Cheng’s grave expression.

"It’s hard to say!" Cui Cheng shook his head, equally confused. "Let’s leave first and discuss this later!"

He pulled Zhao Yue away with him.

The rest of the citizens were still grouped around the public notice, continuing their animated discussions.

In the inner hall, Shen Changqing had just sat down when Cui Cheng and Zhao Yue came to visit.

"How come you two are here?"

"Lord Shen, I would like to inquire about the Zhang Family’s incident—" Cui Cheng blurted out, but midway through, he found himself not knowing how to continue.

"Please, take a seat!" Shen Changqing indicated with his eyes.

Both of them bowed. "Thank you, Lord Shen!"

After saying that, they each took their seats.

Shen Changqing looked at the two, his expression neutral. "I believe you’re here because of the Yamen’s public notice," he said. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask. There’s no need to beat around the bush."

"Since that’s the case, I’ll speak frankly!" Cui Cheng bowed and expressed his inner doubt. "Yesterday, from Lord Shen’s words, it was clear that the Zhang Family had been an Eternal Alliance Stronghold for some time. But the public notice from the Yamen doesn’t suggest that the Zhang Family was an Eternal Alliance Stronghold. Instead, it seems like a family that just suffered an attack by Demon Evil. What exactly is going on here?"

"Indeed, the Zhang Family was an Eternal Alliance Stronghold. However, the Zhangs did not collude with Demon Evil. In fact, a long time ago, the Zhang Family was exterminated by Demonfolk from the Eternal Alliance."

After Shen Changqing finished speaking, he paused briefly, then changed the subject with a question.

"By chance, has the Guiyuan Sword Sect ever heard of ’Corpse Puppets’?"

"Corpse Puppets!" Cui Cheng was perplexed for a moment, but then seemed to recall something, his expression suddenly changing drastically. "Is Lord Shen saying that the Zhang Family members were all turned into Corpse Puppets?"